misappropriate
/mɪsəˈprəʊprɪeɪt
/verb [with object]
Dishonestly or unfairly take (something, especially money, belonging to another) for one’s own use: the report revealed that department officials had misappropriated funds...
- After the high increase in council tax and an exceptional increase in essential services costs in rural areas, to give £1m or even £0.5m of our taxes to this project is misappropriating our money.
- It was essentially a sort of collaboration across both things and I completely reject the view that I was misappropriating money.
- He talked about the Government misappropriating money, which is theft.
Synonyms
embezzle, expropriate, steal, thieve, pilfer, swindle, pocket, help oneself to, abscond with, make off with, have one's hand/fingers in the till
informal skim, swipe, lift, filch, rip off, snitch
British informal pinch, half-inch, nick, whip, knock off, bone
rare peculate, defalcate
