peculate

verb

Definition of peculatenext
as in to usurp

Related Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for peculate
  1. usurp
  2. embezzle
  3. seize
  4. preempt
  5. appropriate
  6. misuse
  7. arrogate
  8. confiscate
Verb
  • Howie Roseman acquired Bigsby after Week 1, and Bigsby eventually usurped Shipley as Barkley’s top backup.
    — Zach Berman, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026
  • In this way, the tech is being used to elevate human intelligence, rather than usurping it.
    — William Jones, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of usurp
Verb
  • The former state senator was sentenced to two years for embezzling funds.
    — Suzanne Van Atten, AJC.com, 24 Aug. 2026
  • According to investigators, Rodriguez and Perez embezzled approximately $620,000 from Iron Container between 2020 and 2025.
    — Abby Dodge, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of embezzle
Verb
  • The next season Keegan was joint top scorer as Liverpool were champions of England for the first time in seven years and also seized the club’s historic first European trophy.
    — Michael Walker, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Internet sleuths, predictably, have seized on this ambiguity as proof of malfeasance.
    — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of seize
Verb
  • In response, the CFTC has said that the Commodity Exchange Act gives it sole power over swaps and futures contracts, preempting state laws.
    — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026
  • While Congress holds more power to preempt state taxes, even specific ones, under its Commerce Clause authority, this path is highly complex.
    — Andrew Leahey, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of preempt
Verb
  • Updates in the court battle offered some behind-the-scenes details about the renovation project, for which Congress appropriated $257 million.
    — Bart Jansen, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Summary The Caribbean is increasingly a global wellness hub, though Western influence often appropriates Afro-Indigenous practices.
    — Tiana Randall, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of appropriate
Verb
  • The complaint asks Bonta to investigate whether charitable funds were diverted for Miranda’s personal benefit and recover any money found to have been misused.
    — Naomi Taxay, Sacbee.com, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Look for unfamiliar accounts or other signs that your information may have been misused.
    — Andreina Rodriguez, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of misuse
Verb
  • What shouldn’t happen is for the federal government to arrogate to itself nationalization powers over what fans are so passionate about.
    — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
  • But all of those ideas for spending or tax rebates, again, all of those are congressional authority that the president is arrogating to himself—something else that would have startled the founders of the country all those 250 years ago.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2025
Definition of arrogate
Verb
  • After Germany declared war on Russia, Freundlich and his colleagues were captured by the Russian army and their equipment was confiscated.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Hana reported that plainclothes agents confiscated phones and electronic equipment and that Seyedabdollahi was subsequently held in solitary confinement and at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence detention facility in Isfahan.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of confiscate
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

Pecksniffian
peculate
peculated
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Peculate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peculate. Accessed 30 Aug. 2026.

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