Synonyms of borrow

borrow

verb

ˈbär-(ˌ)ō 

as in to adopt

to take for one's own use (something originated by another)

borrowed the basic plot from a book of tales, but put her personal stamp on the story

Synonyms & Similar Words

• adopt
• embrace
• take up
• cultivate
• use
• assimilate
• take on
• utilize
• follow
• copy
• imitate
• incorporate
• pick up on
• espouse
• absorb
• quote
• usurp
• appropriate
• treasure
• honor
• cherish
• raise
• heed
• take over
• domesticate
• prize
• pretend
• assume
• affect
• naturalize
• arrogate
• simulate
• foster
• nurture
• put on
• bring up
• rear

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• abandon
• relinquish
• forsake
• give up
• surrender
• reject
• disown
• renounce
• repudiate
• abjure
• spurn
• discard
• throw away
• jettison
• throw out
• abnegate
• junk

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of borrow

The loss comes from the fact the postal service can no longer borrow from the Treasury Department after hitting its $15 billion limit. —Claire Grant, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2025

Close to 30 Jews met recently at a private home on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, sitting on borrowed folding chairs to hear Karin Loevy, an Israeli legal scholar at New York University. —Andrew Silow-Carroll, Sun Sentinel, 31 Mar. 2025

Officers borrowed plastic cups from a neighbor to scoop up blood samples in the snow and took them back to the police station in a paper grocery bag, according to WCVB. —Rachel Treisman, NPR, 28 Mar. 2025

For Max, the entire situation is — to borrow an acronym oft-used by American GIs during World War II — FUBAR. —Josh Weiss, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025