USURP
What does "USURP" mean?
To seize a position of power or authority illegally or by force, without right.
Meanings
- To take a throne, office, or authority wrongfully and without legal right. The general usurped the throne while the king was at war.
- To take over the place, role, or function of someone or something. Streaming services have largely usurped the role of the rental store.
Did you know?
- 'Usurp' carries its own crime in its roots: the Latin 'usurpare' likely fused 'usu' (by use) with 'rapere' (to seize) — to grab something and start using it as if the right to it were yours.
Word origin
From Latin 'usurpare' ('to seize for use, take possession of'), perhaps from 'usu' ('by use') and 'rapere' ('to seize'), via Old French 'usurper'.
Remember it
USURP sounds like 'you slurp' up a power that isn't yours — a greedy snatch.
A little poem
He climbed the throne by borrowed night,
wore the crown that fit another's brow-
and never once stood in his own right.
tercet
Wordplay
- The understudy who grabbed the lead role without asking? Pure usurp — and the reviews called it a power grab.
What it teaches
To usurp a seat is easy; to deserve it is the part no force can shortcut.
Quick facts
What does USURP mean?
To seize a position of power or authority illegally or by force, without right.
Is USURP a valid word?
Yes — USURP is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is USURP?
USURP has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does USURP come from?
From Latin 'usurpare' ('to seize for use, take possession of'), perhaps from 'usu' ('by use') and 'rapere' ('to seize'), via Old French 'usurper'.
What can USURP teach us?
To usurp a seat is easy; to deserve it is the part no force can shortcut.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.