(transitive) To commandeer, appropriate or take over.
Used in a Sentence
co-opted
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for co-opted.
Editorial note
He seems to deliberately eschew understanding his subjects, because only corrupt, pointy-headed financial journalists who have been co-opted by the system do that.
Examples15
Definitions3
Parts of speech1
Quick take
(transitive) To commandeer, appropriate or take over.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of co-opted gathered in one view.
(transitive) To absorb or assimilate into an established group, movement, category, etc.
(transitive) To elect as a fellow member of a group, such as a committee.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for co-opted.
verb
(transitive) To commandeer, appropriate or take over.
verb
(transitive) To absorb or assimilate into an established group, movement, category, etc.
verb
(transitive) To elect as a fellow member of a group, such as a committee.
Example sentences
He seems to deliberately eschew understanding his subjects, because only corrupt, pointy-headed financial journalists who have been co-opted by the system do that.
But yes, since 2010 or so Wikileaks has been co-opted by Russia.
Without that protection we'd have a huge exposure to our brand being co-opted either intentionally or not by another company.
Had those protestors been successful, there is a significant possibility would have been co-opted by elements that executed, tortured, and imprisoned a lot more people.
He was burned by ebay grabbing 20%, he hasn't changed the design ever, and may constantly live in fear of being co-opted by the man.
In any case, the phrase has been too thoroughly co-opted.
Religion co-opted it for themselves at a later time.
The tea party was a ground-swell movement that got co-opted by the Kochs to promote very little more than the Republican status-quo in terms of political ideology.
Meanwhile, the third guy (meaning, the flashy CEO who co-opted the technology from the guy who stole the idea) passes off the idea as his own, brilliant invention.
By defining these rules in advance, the telegraph system, which up to now only transferred individual letters, can be co-opted to send things such as pictures and films.
Shell is not the Dutch government, and I'd be fairly surprised if the Dutch government would let its intelligence services be co-opted in this way.
Regulations always start with the best of intentions, but are almost always co-opted by industry lobbyists to create barriers to entry in the guise of helping the common good.
Quote examples
"Hacker" has been co-opted by startup culture, so being a professional is an accepted term in the definition.
It's rather frustrating--the subreddit shutdowns had little to do with the "Pao must resign" crowd, but they're being co-opted by the same as validation of their crusade against her.
Unthinking faith in "the institution of science", particularly the denial that it can be co-opted for certain policy goals, and influenced by funding, and lack the foresight to control for important environmental variables, has and will continue to lead into stuff like eugenics, craniology, and austerity.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use co-opted in a sentence?
He seems to deliberately eschew understanding his subjects, because only corrupt, pointy-headed financial journalists who have been co-opted by the system do that.
What does co-opted mean?
(transitive) To commandeer, appropriate or take over.
What part of speech is co-opted?
co-opted is commonly used as verb.