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

Some of these features have been co-opted or repurposed for a different function due to evolutionary changes in environment, behavior, or selective pressures. —Julia Craven, Popular Science, 13 Feb. 2025

The record-breaking victory lap, which lambasted Drake and had everyone and their Presidential candidate’s mother co-opting the phrase, has been an unprecedented rap phenomenon. —Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2025

Yet, Trump’s directives rely on co-opting police and prosecutors into immigration enforcers, which will divert limited time, resources, and attention from real public safety issues. —Cristine Soto Deberry, Orange County Register, 11 Feb. 2025

But the system is not democratic, because incumbents rig the game by deploying the machinery of government to attack opponents and co-opt critics. —Steven Levitsky, Foreign Affairs, 11 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin cooptare, from co- + optare to choose

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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