as in to seize
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right
the mayor usurped the school board's authority when he fired the principal
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of usurp
Robb Report’s automotive team agreed with the consensus that McLaren deserved to usurp the COTY throne from Aston this year, finding that the 750S is a visual and visceral tour de force that embodies everything COTY looks to celebrate.
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Robert Ross, Robb Report, 11 Feb. 2025
Senate Republicans are largely standing by as Trump usurps their power of the purse.
—Jess Bidgood, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2025
The order usurps spending and legislative powers belonging exclusively to Congress, and seizes the States' historic police powers to regulate the practice of medicine in violation of the Tenth Amendment.
—Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 14 Feb. 2025
We are once again forced to remind everyone, including the GOP members of Congress who are apparently happy to stand by and watch their own authority be usurped and consolidated, that the president is not a king.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for usurp
Recent Examples of Synonyms for usurp
Verb
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In a lightning three-week offensive, the M23 took control of eastern Congo's main city Goma and seized the second largest city, Bukavu.—
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Serving this warrant with a copy of the Affidavit, and making the search and if the person or property to be found there, to seize the person or the property and hold for safekeeping until further order of this court.—
Verb
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President Donald Trump celebrated on Friday after the FBI returned boxes of classified documents that were confiscated during a raid of Mar-a-Lago in 2022.—
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Personal property confiscated by the FBI during its 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago was boxed up and loaded onto Air Force One to make the journey back to Florida.—
Verb
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While the competitive spirt was certainly alive and well between co-parents Tarek, Heather and Christina throughout the season, another personal crisis unexpectedly stole the show: Christina's split from Josh.—
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While its interior artfully blends mid-century aesthetics with a modern Scandinavian feel, the food and beverage program truly steals the spotlight.—
Verb
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Lozano exited the match in the 28th minute after appearing to grab his left hamstring.—
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Tari Eason scored 14 points and Dillon Brooks added 12. Sabonis’ injury Sabonis grabbed his left hamstring while running the floor just over a minute into the game.—
Verb
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Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, which was mostly occupied by Russia early in the war but later partially retaken by Ukrainian forces, said three years of war had hardened his countrymen to the ups and downs of the fight to survive.—
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The property occupies a sizable 7,500-square-foot lot.—
Verb
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Figuring out whether to do a conversion and precisely how much to convert in each future year is immensely complicated.—
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Here Meanwhile, a new regional piece of legislation is being drafted — and is up for approval this week — that would remove norms that currently prevent Rome movie theaters from being converted into any other type of business besides being a cultural space.—
Cite this Entry
“Usurp.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/usurp. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
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