Dictionary

arrogate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈæɹəɡeɪt/

Etymology

From Latin arrogātus, perfect passive participle of adrogō, arrogō (“ask of, adopt, appropriate, assume”), from ad (“to”) + rogō (“ask”).

Meanings

1. (transitive, uncommon) To appropriate or lay claim to something for oneself without right.
   • What is remarkable about the challenged statute and rules is not that they address medical treatments with both risks and benefits but that they arrogate to the state the right to make that decision. May 30, 2023, Judge Robert L. Hinkle, Doe v. ladapo, Case No. 4:23cv114-RH-MAF, Federal District Court, Northern District of Florida
   • Ye who arrogate to yourselves that ye see more, or at least are not so blind as others; in your unbelieving conduct, allow me to say, ye are blinder than others; ye are even blinder than the most ignorant and illiterate. 1830, William Pashley, The Voice of Reason in Defence of the Christian Faith:
   • “[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.” 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
   • Unfortunately, certain capitalists have arrogated to themselves monopolies and privileges which are quite sufficient to account for this [commotion of the populace against capitalists]. 1874, Patrick James Stirling, What is Money?, Putnam, translation of original by Frédéric Bastiat, page 169:
   • Britain has spent 40-plus years arrogating more and more power to its centre – and now its centre has no idea of how to wield that power. That I think is the fundamental political and economic crisis we face today. 2019 March 14, Aditya Chakrabortty, “The problem is not so much Theresa May – it’s that Britain is now ungovernable”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2019:
   • Ruling in the immunity case, Chief Justice John Roberts seemed to serenely arrogate to the Court an immense power to determine whether the president might ever face criminal consequence without worrying whether the emboldening of a rampaging executive might at some point place the authority of the judiciary in danger. 2025 April 9, Quinta Jurecic, “What, Exactly, Is the Supreme Court Thinking?”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2025:

Forms

Antonyms

renounce · abandon · relinquish · abdicate

Deriveds

unarrogating

Relateds

arrogance · arrogant · arrogation

Synonyms

expropriate · usurp · commandeer

Translations (16)

ja 横取りする (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · de an sich reißen (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · eo arogi (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · sv tillskansa sig (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · es arrogarse (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · no rive til seg (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · io arogar (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · ru самонаде́янно претендова́ть (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · no tilta seg (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · pt arrogar (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · no tiltvinge seg (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · no tilrane seg (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · no rane til seg (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · sv tillvälla sig (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · fr s'arroger (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right) · no tilrive seg (to appropriate or lay claim to something without right)