misappropriate

verb

mis·​ap·​pro·​pri·​ate ˌmi-sə-ˈprō-prē-ˌāt How to pronounce misappropriate (audio)
misappropriated; misappropriating; misappropriates

transitive verb

: to appropriate wrongly (as by theft or embezzlement)
misappropriation noun

Examples of misappropriate in a Sentence

They accused him of misappropriating town funds. a financial manager misappropriating funds from her clients' accounts
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption scandal consisted of Jho Low, his associate Eric Tan, and others allegedly stealing billions of dollars from the fund and misappropriating the money. Regina Cho, VIBE.com, 4 Oct. 2024 After the case was brought back to court a third time, jurors eventually found that 13 dolls among the line's 30 in total infringed on the trade dress of the OMG Girlz, as well as misappropriated their name, images, and likenesses. Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 24 Sep. 2024 The rapper and Xscape singer accused the toy company of misappropriating the girl group's name, image and likeness. Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 24 Sep. 2024 In May, a News/Media Alliance letter to the DOJ and FTC said: Google has a history of flagrantly misappropriating publishers' content on its search results pages, as illustrated by the FTC's 2012 investigation into Google's scraping practices. Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, 6 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for misappropriate 

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of misappropriate was in 1825

Dictionary Entries Near misappropriate

Cite this Entry

“Misappropriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misappropriate. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

misappropriate

verb
mis·​ap·​pro·​pri·​ate ˌmis-ə-ˈprō-prē-ˌāt How to pronounce misappropriate (audio)
: to appropriate wrongly
especially : to take dishonestly for one's own use
misappropriation noun

Legal Definition

misappropriate

transitive verb
mis·​ap·​pro·​pri·​ate ˌmi-sə-ˈprō-prē-ˌāt How to pronounce misappropriate (audio)
: to appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully (as by theft or embezzlement)
misappropriation noun

More from Merriam-Webster on misappropriate

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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