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.
With Kelley’s approval, the baby was adopted by Rene and Thomas Harrell, who lived in Massachusetts.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
If a referendum had been successful and the post of mayor had been abolished, it is likely that the council would have adopted a strong leader model.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Yet Bessent has adopted his Democratic predecessor’s use of heavy reliance on short-term Treasury bill issuance to help fund the nearly $2 trillion U.S. budget deficit.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
Two provisions of federal law relating to vote buying were adopted by Congress and became law in 1948.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
It didn’t to Jonah—he’d always known he was adopted, and as far as he was concerned, it wasn’t much more of a deal than his liking mint chocolate-chip ice cream while Katherine liked orange sherbet.
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.
