DictionaryAI

appropriate

Sayuh-PROH-pree-uht/əˈpɹoʊ.pɹi.ət/UK/əˈpɹəʊ.pɹi.ət/
As a verbuh-PROH-pree-ayt

Verbappropriates, appropriating, appropriated

7 meanings of appropriate

Practice

  1. 1
    fit for purposeadjective
    Suitable or fitting for a particular purpose, situation, or occasion.

    The committee chose an appropriate venue for the formal ceremony.

    Her response was entirely appropriate given the difficult circumstances.

    UsageUsually appropriate for someone or something, sometimes appropriate to an occasion. The usual opposite is inappropriate; unappropriate is rare.

    Similarsuitable, fitting, apt

    Oppositeinappropriate, unsuitable, unfitting

    Note

    Behind the adjective stands the Middle English participle appropriat, "appropriated": what has been set apart for a purpose came to be what suits it, and the "reserved" meaning keeps that middle step.

  2. 2
    socially properadjective
    Right or proper for a given situation, by the standards of good manners, social custom, or morality.

    Wearing a dark suit to the memorial was the appropriate choice.

    Making fun of a coworker's accent is not appropriate behavior at work.

    UsageOften it is (not) appropriate to do something, or for someone to do it. Not appropriate is a polite way to say wrong.

    Similarproper, right

    Oppositeimproper

  3. 3
    take for yourselfverbtransitive
    To take something for one's own use, especially by claiming an exclusive right to it.

    Powerful families often appropriate public land for their private use.

    The brand was accused of appropriating traditional patterns without credit.

    UsageOften disapproving, suggesting taking without the right: appropriate public land, appropriate someone's ideas.

    Similarseize, take, commandeer, usurp, steal

    Oppositerelinquish, surrender

    Note

    The Latin root shows through plainly here. Appropriō meant "to make one's own," from proprius, "one's own, private." The verb still means taking something as if by right, and it often carries a hint of presumption. In Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Ethel Churchill (1837), Lord Marchmont "appropriated the compliment as if the taste had been his own." Credit, land and objects can all be appropriated in this way.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Appropriate derives ultimately from Latin appropriō, meaning 'to make one's own', through proprius, meaning 'one's own, private'. en.wiktionary.org
    • Letitia Elizabeth Landon wrote Ethel Churchill, first published in 1837. en.wikipedia.org
    • The quotation accurately describes Lord Marchmont in the novel; it is narration, rather than his speech. en.wiktionary.org
  4. 4
    set asideverbtransitive
    To set apart or assign something for a particular person or use, to the exclusion of others.

    Congress voted to appropriate funds for disaster relief.

    Each spring the council must appropriate funds for road repairs before any other spending is approved.

    UsageMostly of public money: appropriate funds for a project. The noun is appropriation, as in an appropriations bill.

    Similarallocate, earmark, allot, assign, budget

    Note

    Here the taking runs the other way. In the "take for oneself" meaning the taker keeps the thing; in this sense something is set aside for a particular person or use, usually named with for or to. A spot of ground is appropriated for a garden, and money is appropriated for the navy. In David Nakamura and Tom Hamburger's 2012 Washington Post report, Congress is urged to appropriate "whatever is necessary." This is the verb's budgeting and legislative use.

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    adaptverbarchaictransitive
    To make something suitable to a particular purpose or situation.
    Note

    This is a verb of fitting rather than taking, and it is now archaic. Charles Bell, annotating Paley's Natural Theology, admires the skin's sensibility, "so finely appropriated," meaning exactly fitted to its work. In modern writing, use adapt, suit or fit for this meaning. Today's readers will usually hear the "take for oneself" meaning instead, so they may misread the sentence.

  2. 6
    adjectiveobsolete
    Kept available for a particular person's use or for a particular purpose.
    Note

    This sense sits closest to the old participle. Something appropriate in this sense was simply reserved, held apart for one person or use. It is obsolete. Modern readers will hear the "suitable" meaning in its place, so a sentence like "the wing was appropriate to the bishop" now reads as a comment on taste. In present-day writing, say reserved or set apart.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The adjective derives from an older form meaning appropriated, supporting the connection with a participle. en.wiktionary.org
    • Appropriate historically meant set apart for a particular person or use; this sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 7
    verbBritish
    To annex a church living, together with its revenues, to a religious corporation as its permanent property.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 3–5

From Middle English appropriaten, borrowed from Latin appropriātus, the past participle of appropriō ("to make one's own"), formed from ad ("to") and proprius ("one's own, private").

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 8 facts

Meanings 1–2, 6

From Middle English appropriat ("appropriated"), from Latin appropriātus, the past participle of appropriō ("to make one's own"); it shares the origin of the verb.