co-opt

verb

kō-ˈäpt 

co-opted; co-opting; co-opts

transitive verb

1

a

: to choose or elect as a member

members co-opted to the committee

b

: to appoint as a colleague or assistant

2

a

: to take into a group (such as a faction, movement, or culture) : absorb, assimilate

The students are co-opted by a system they serve even in their struggle against it.

—A. C. Danto

b

: take over, appropriate

a style co-opted by advertisers

co-optative

kō-ˈäp-tə-tiv 

adjective

co-option

kō-ˈäp-shən 

noun

co-optive

kō-ˈäp-tiv 

adjective

Synonyms

• absorb
• assimilate
• embody
• incorporate
• integrate

Examples of co-opt in a Sentence

the national organization co-opted many formerly independent local groups

Recent Examples on the Web

In evolutionary history, such behaviors might have been co-opted from more general stress responses. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2025

Civilizing Mission was not just an indictment of gender apartheid but also of the ways such struggles can be co-opted, neutralized, or repurposed. —Rebecca Ruth Gould, JSTOR Daily, 9 Apr. 2025

Hudson celebrated/co-opted 3-28 with Belichick on Instagram last week. —Bill Speros, Boston Herald, 2 Apr. 2025

Once in a while, technology still feels easy and—dare I co-opt the world from Apple's marketing department?—even magical. —ArsTechnica, 2 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin cooptare, from co- + optare to choose

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for co-opt

• adopt
• estopped
• chopped
• cropped
• dropped
• dropt
• flopped
• hopped
• lopped
• mopped
• opt
• plopped

Kids Definition

co-opt

verb

kō-ˈäpt

co-opted; co-opting

1

: to take into a group (as a faction, movement, or culture) : assimilate

2

: take over, appropriate sense 1

a style co-opted by advertisers