Usurper
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 One who usurps.
"The fact that the Yongle emperor was therefore a usurper, regicide and nepoticide (nephew-killer) made compiling the Veritable Record – or official history – of his reign a most dangerous scholarly post. The official given this ticklish task managed to survive several drafts, finally producing one that pleased his master as it omitted the dead nephew's reign altogether."
- 2 one who wrongfully or illegally seizes and holds the place of another wordnet
Example
More examples"The Count was very brief in his greetings, and indicated, as plainly as he could without saying it in so many words, that he did not acknowledge the pretensions of the usurper."
Etymology
From Middle English usurper, usurpour, usurpur, from Middle French usurpeur; equivalent to usurp + -er.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.