commandeered

verb

past tense of commandeer
1
as in hijacked
to take control of (a vehicle) by force an airliner commandeered by terrorists

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in seized
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right commandeered all of the equipment, as if the chem lab belonged solely to him

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of commandeered This data could be leveraged for surveillance or intelligence, and robots could be remotely commandeered. — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 The Loa River was commandeered in its entirety, source to mouth. — Cristina Dorador, The Dial, 14 July 2026 Both the Russian and Chinese governments have been compromising routers for years, sometimes in prolonged tugs-of-war to wrest control of devices the other has already commandeered. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 13 July 2026 The event was so popular that the crowd spilled into the place next door, and in a restaurant called Amber, the sound system was commandeered. — Simon Hughes, New York Times, 24 June 2026 The concept is based upon unfussy Italian cooking with local ingredients, commandeered by a chef whose background is in looking after Italy’s most prestigious families, rather than restaurants. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026 Since last year, when the RSF overran parts of Darfur and Kordofan, the militia has commandeered the gum trade, integrating it into its smuggling empire and further starving government coffers. — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2026 The police had established barriers for the zone earlier in the afternoon, which rioters commandeered to fight back against police. — Preston Mizell, FOXNews.com, 30 May 2026 If squirrels have commandeered your bird feeder, take it down for a few days. — Melissa Epifano, The Spruce, 28 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commandeered
  1. hijacked
  2. seized
  3. confiscated
  4. converted
  5. usurped
  6. grabbed
  7. occupied
  8. stole
Verb
  • Set in Massachusetts in 1858, the novel tells the story of a 15-year-old boy who gets trapped aboard a schooner as it gets hijacked.
    — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026
  • That is up from Politico’s report that Somali pirates had seized at least three tankers carrying oil and fertilizer since April, while a chemical-carrying ship was hijacked off Yemen in July.
    — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of hijacked
Verb
  • Many politicians have either seized on the outrage or scrambled to shield themselves from the growing anger.
    — Christopher Cann, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The unrest comes as authorities tighten control over its uranium sector, having seized ⁠assets from ​France’s Orano.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of seized
Verb
  • One order prevented federal agents from moving detainees out of state within seventy-two hours of being arrested; another demanded that the government return confiscated belongings to released detainees.
    — Emily Witt, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • When referee Rick Knox confiscated the belt, Christian loaded up his wrist brace with a wrench.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of confiscated
Verb
  • Myers, who is in the final year of his contract, converted 41 of 48 field goals last season, though, and has been with the Seahawks since 2019, so his job is safe for now.
    — Andrew Destin, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2026
  • The result was lines out the door, a local political commendation, and a business that converted attention into revenue in a way most post-villa deals never manage.
    — Olivia Shalhoup, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of converted
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
  • When Shuja was usurped in Afghanistan by a rival brother, Shuja’s wife, Wa’fa Begum, fled to Lahore for safety.
    — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of usurped
Verb
  • Clark then went back to his golf bag, grabbed another iron, and placed it behind the ball.
    — Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The one that has grabbed most of the headlines is its pull back from LIV.
    — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of grabbed
Verb
  • The Israeli military seized a 400 square kilometer buffer zone inside Syria after the 2024 collapse of the Assad regime and has occupied it since.
    — Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Parton, who died Tuesday at age 80, occupied a space in our global cultural imagination — a figure of American mythology, someone best described as larger-than-life and then a little bit more.
    — Maria Sherman, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of occupied
Verb
  • Last month, burglars stole millions of dollars worth of jewelry from the museum of French luxury glassmaker Lalique in a daring early morning raid.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Smith allegedly stole the mother’s vehicle and left the home with the child.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of stole

Browse Nearby Words

commandeer
commandeered
commandeering
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Cite this Entry

“Commandeered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commandeered. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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