annexation

noun

an·​nex·​a·​tion ˌa-ˌnek-ˈsā-shən 

plural annexations

1

: the act of annexing something or the state of being annexed : the addition of an area or region to a country, state, etc.

The Senate rejected the Hawaiian reciprocity treaty, the purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark, the annexation of Santo Domingo and the annexation of Samoa.

—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

In the early part of the 20th century, Chinese writers generally dated the annexation of Tibet to the 18th century.

—Elliot Sperling

2

: something that is annexed

… defended their annexations with fire and sword.

—George Bernard Shaw

annexational

ˌa-ˌnek-ˈsā-sh(ə-)nəl 

adjective

annexationist

ˌa-ˌnek-ˈsā-sh(ə-)nist 

noun

Examples of annexation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ukraine restarted its bid for membership in the alliance in direct response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014, when former U.S. President Barack Obama was in office. —Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025

However, the international community does not recognize Russia's annexation and continues to consider these regions part of Ukraine. —Ross Rosenfeld, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025

All these works were seized by the Nazis during their annexation of Austria in 1938, according to Grünbaum’s heirs. —Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 24 Feb. 2025

Donald Trump’s musings about annexations led to Canadians booing the U.S. anthem, which likely had something to do with all that fighting in the teams’ first meeting of the tournament. —Alex Kirshner, The Athletic, 23 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for annexation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation