adopted
Britishadjective
Explanation
Something that's adopted has been deliberately chosen. Your adopted country is the place where you choose to live, not necessarily the one in which you're born. If you describe yourself as adopted, it means that you were taken in and raised by parents who didn't give birth to you. Just as your adoptive parents chose you to be their child, other adopted things are also chosen: an adopted language is one you learn and then choose to speak, and an adopted state is the place you freely decide to live in. The Latin root is adoptare, "choose for oneself."
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.
Adopted by the National Football League in 2003 to address the lack of people of color in top coaching positions, the Rooney Rule requires franchises to interview at least one minority candidate.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
Adopted as a 10-month-old, her parents first took her skiing when she was five or six.
From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026
Appeared in the February 2, 2026, print edition as 'A Centenarian on the State of His Adopted Country'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 2026
"Adopted officially by the Parker/Broderick family in April 2023. He joins Rémy and Smila whom we adopted in May 2022. If he looks familiar, that's because he is."
From Salon • Aug. 30, 2023
I thought I’d just have to quote from What to Tell Your Adopted and Foster Children.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
