usurper
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of usurper
First recorded in 1400–50; usurp ( def. ) + -er 1 ( def. )
Explanation
A usurper is someone who wrongfully takes someone else's place. A usurper usually tries to take someone's place on the throne, rather than someone's seat on a bus. If you were married, and someone cheated with your spouse and then married your spouse, you would probably consider that person a usurper: someone who took your place in a way that's shady or wrong. A king who is overthrown would consider the new king a usurper. Usurper is a strong word for someone who has taken or usurped what rightfully belonged to someone else.
Vocabulary lists containing usurper
The Tragedy of Macbeth
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
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This Week in Words : January 19 - 25, 2019
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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.
Maybe chairman Payne is the Great Usurper, and maybe the National has changed the lay of the land too much and too fast.
From Golf Digest • Mar. 27, 2017
In the Restoration, with the aristocracy firmly back in power, Elizabeth was crudely mocked in a satirical pamphlet cookbook The Court and Kitchen of Elizabeth, Commonly called Joan Cromwell, the Wife of the Late Usurper.
From BBC • Dec. 5, 2014
Lord Redwyne had fought for her father against the Usurper, she remembered, one of the few to remain true to the last.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
For a heartbeat she felt almost sorry for the Usurper.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
"Woe to the Usurper if we had been," said Ser Oswell.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
