expropriate
Americanverb (used with object)
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expropriates,
present (3rd person singular)
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expropriated,
past participle, past
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expropriating
present participle
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to take possession of, especially for public use by the right of eminent domain, thus divesting the title of the private owner.
The government expropriated the land for a recreation area.
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to dispossess (a person) of ownership.
The revolutionary government expropriated the landowners from their estates.
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to take (something) from another's possession for one's own use.
He expropriated my ideas for his own article.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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de-expropriationnoun
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expropriationnoun
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expropriatornoun
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expropriableadjective
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expropriationistadjective
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unexpropriableadjective
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unexpropriatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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expropriatesimple
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expropriatessimple
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have expropriatedperfect
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has expropriatedperfect
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am expropriatingprogressive
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are expropriatingprogressive
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is expropriatingprogressive
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have been expropriatingperfect progressive
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has been expropriatingperfect progressive
Past
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expropriatedsimple
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had expropriatedperfect
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was expropriatingprogressive
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were expropriatingprogressive
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had been expropriatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of expropriate
1605–15; from Medieval Latin expropriātus “separated from one's own” (past participle of expropriāre ), equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + propri(āre) “to appropriate” (derivative of proprius proper ) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Use the verb expropriate to describe the act of taking people's property, usually by a government. If you really like your neighbor's house, you may wish you could expropriate the property. To correctly pronounce expropriate, say "ex-PRO-pree-ate." It sounds a lot like another verb, appropriate and has a similar meaning. That's because of their shared Latin root proprius, which means "own." Expropriate is typically used to describe taking property — rather than smaller possessions — and a government or other official organization is usually the one doing the taking. For example, a state may expropriate property in order to build a new road.
Vocabulary lists containing expropriate
This Week In Words: August 31–September 6, 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.
See Examples For:
For lawyer and activist Arif Ali Cangi, the legislation approved in July, which allows companies to expropriate or rezone agricultural land for mining, will only aggravate the situation.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
The difficulties arise because the acquirer can’t simply expropriate an investor-owned utility’s assets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 10, 2025
If an agreement isn't reached the Portuguese government could expropriate the land.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2023
Lopez Obrador has clashed with Grupo Mexico this year, and in May moved to expropriate some tracks the company controls in southern Mexico for a flagship infrastructure project.
From Reuters ● Sep. 20, 2023
The object of British land-legislation has been to expropriate the landlords, so far as their tenanted land is concerned, and to establish the Irish peasant, as absolute owner of the land he tills.
From Ireland and Poland A Comparison by T. W. (Thomas William) Rolleston
The agency in charge of approving these pipelines—the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC—is reconsidering how eminent domain, by which the government legally expropriates private property for public purposes, is used.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2018
"Gentlemen!" he says reprovingly, as he expropriates a bottle and glass from a giant paw.
From Time Magazine Archive
By thus throwing men out of work, the instrument of labor lowers wages and expropriates the laborer from his means of existence.
From Socialism, Revolution and Internationalism by Gabriel Deville
After the fall of communism, the new government crafted a series of laws to return expropriated land, opening the door to a flood of overlapping claims.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Feeling the U.S. squeeze, Cuba’s government has signaled a willingness to discuss how to compensate the owners of expropriated property, in the hope that they agree to invest capital in the island first.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“I see myself flourishing again,” said José Celestino García Petro, 66 and a father of eight, who said he never found steady work after his well-servicing firm was expropriated by the government years ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2026
The forced auction was a lengthy process that pitted Amber Energy against one other contender, Gold Reserves Ltd., a creditor of Venezuela that had its gold- and copper-mining assets expropriated.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 5, 2026
Tres Marias was one of the last haciendas in the South to be expropriated under the agrarian reform.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
The legal victory was rare for Argentina, which has for years faced and lost lawsuits after breaching contracts, from expropriating companies to defaulting on bonds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Venezuela was ordered to pay ConocoPhillips $8.7 billion by an international arbitration panel External link in 2019 for unlawfully expropriating the company’s oil investments.
From Barron's ● Jan. 5, 2026
It said Germany's neighbours were reluctant to sign due to disagreements over compensation Berlin would have to pay to its companies for expropriating their gas to offer to neighbours.
From Reuters ● Sep. 8, 2022
But as Castro began expropriating properties, hopes for eclectic new construction were dashed.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 24, 2022
Municipal enterprise aims at expropriating private property-owners, who, rightly considered, are paid not in cash but in debt certificates.
From British Socialism An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals by J. Ellis Barker
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.
