misappropriate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to put to a wrong use.
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to apply wrongfully or dishonestly, as funds entrusted to one's care.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misappropriatesimple
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misappropriatessimple
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have misappropriatedperfect
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has misappropriatedperfect
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am misappropriatingprogressive
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are misappropriatingprogressive
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is misappropriatingprogressive
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have been misappropriatingperfect progressive
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has been misappropriatingperfect progressive
Past
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misappropriatedsimple
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had misappropriatedperfect
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was misappropriatingprogressive
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were misappropriatingprogressive
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had been misappropriatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of misappropriate
First recorded in 1855–60; mis- 1 + appropriate
Explanation
When you misappropriate something, you steal it, or otherwise use it in a way its owner didn't intend. You might hear the phrase "to misappropriate funds" on the news — usually what this means is that someone who has access to money at work has stolen some of it. A banker might misappropriate money, for example, paying himself a bonus, or the manager of a charity might misappropriate donations, using them to buy herself a new car. Misappropriate combines the prefix mis, "bad or wrong," and appropriate, "take possession of."
Vocabulary lists containing misappropriate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The most famous case involved the Gupta brothers—Ajay, Atul and Rajesh—who were accused of using ties to the ANC to engage in corruption and bribery to misappropriate state assets, according to the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
Kenyan academic Karuti Kanyinga agrees that the social media content feeds into a desire for accountable leaders who can change Africa, do not misappropriate resources and try to uplift people from poverty.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2025
Federal prosecutors in New York have charged Mr. Bankman-Fried with overseeing a scheme to misappropriate billions of dollars in customer deposits at FTX.
From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2023
In February, Schrock and McManus pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misappropriate public funds.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 10, 2021
"Which means," Martin commented, cynically, to his sister, "that I am not likely to misappropriate the funds, or go blabbing to our Charge d'Affaires here."
From Nostromo, a Tale of the Seaboard by Conrad, Joseph
But beneath the pamphlets of patients living out their days in comfort lies an uglier reality: a cottage industry that frequently misappropriates taxpayer dollars in the name of profit.
From Slate ● Jan. 17, 2023
The privacy policy of a website outlines the details of what kind of data that website collects, but it does not offer any real recourse if the website misappropriates the data.
From Encyclopedia.com ● Jun. 26, 2018
The government is not in charge of the church, and the church is not in charge of the government - no matter how badly either misappropriates law or Scripture.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 20, 2018
Conflating diversity with a box-ticking or virtue-signalling exercise misappropriates its true meaning, which, if done properly by genuinely diverse decision-makers, is always about excellence.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 11, 2018
That man who misappropriates what is deposited with him in trustfulness has to undergo a hundred transformations.
From The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 Books 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 by Ganguli, Kisari Mohan
Bisignano “never misappropriated corporate funds at JPMorgan, or anywhere else,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
"OpenAI's nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets," the complaint said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Also pending is a $175 million lawsuit against former associates, claiming they defrauded him and misappropriated his funds, jewelry, and private jet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
“I would have to say our investment in FTX,” Loeb replied, referring to the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency brokerage, which collapsed in 2022 after customer funds were found to be misappropriated.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
“If you think you have any right to pry into her private affairs I’ll tell her you believe those checks are being misappropriated and you want an audit because you dont trust her.”
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
In his lawsuit, Musk accuses OpenAI of betraying its original nonprofit mission and misappropriating his founding donations totalling $38 million to build an empire valued at over $850 billion.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
Last September, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Lopez and his partners, accusing them of running a Ponzi scheme, misleading investors and misappropriating $16.1 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
Department of Justice on Thursday charged two real estate executives with defrauding California’s Homekey program, allegedly misappropriating millions meant for homeless housing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2025
Several other members of his Taiwan People Party have also been charged for misappropriating political donations.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2024
Only think of it, just for misappropriating from the treasury sixty-six thousand gulden.
From The Strange Story of Rab R?by by J?kai, M?r
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
