misappropriate
Americanverb (used with object)
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misappropriates,
present (3rd person singular)
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misappropriated,
past participle, past
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misappropriating
present participle
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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
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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
In early August, Azotam began to illegally convert and misappropriate the Knicks’ confidential and proprietary data, the lawsuit said.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2023
Earlier this week, a Singapore court handed out prison sentences to two former Wirecard Asia Holdings employees for conspiring to misappropriate money.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2023
"It was wrong to misappropriate and disseminate Coinbase's property."
From Reuters ● Feb. 7, 2023
He is seeking to misappropriate to himself the good that your own physicians have accomplished.
From The Treasure of the Tigris A Tale of Mesopotamia by A. F. Mockler Ferryman
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
Is the girl who carries away sugar from the table any better than the government employee who misappropriates funds or supplies in his charge?
From Beatrice Leigh at College A Story for Girls by Julia Augusta Schwartz
Lawyers for Isbilen previously told the court that tens of millions of her funds had been misappropriated, with Turk failing to explain where the money had gone.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
“Despite our finding that the money was misappropriated, we find insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally,” the grand jury wrote.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
By late 2024, Regan had misappropriated at least $50 million of the $63 million he raised, the SEC alleged when it filed civil fraud charges against him in September 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Granted, Becerra has had a hard week, with a gaffe with a reporter that went viral and a plea deal by a former aide in that case of money misappropriated from his dormant campaign account.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 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
You don’t have to make accusations about his caregiver misappropriating funds.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
Today, some of his investments appear better in hindsight than they did when FTX failed and prosecutors accused him of misappropriating billions of dollars in customer funds to go on a huge spending spree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
The jury found that Joby owes Aerosonic more than $48 million for misappropriating trade secrets and more than $68 million for breaking a nondisclosure agreement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
On Wednesday, Justice announced charges against four people in the L.A. area with misappropriating homeless funds for personal expenses, including PlayStation charges, luxury vacations, vintage car restorations, real estate and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
In the second act a grand Roman official is not above trying to blast Appelles' reputation by falsely charging him with misappropriating public moneys.
From The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories by Mark Twain
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