The apartment building is owned by a local housing trust.
Her comeback was so sharp that the heckler was owned instantly.
If the laptop is owned, stored tokens may be stolen.
The copyright is owned by the photographer, not the magazine.
The patched service should no longer be owned through that bug.
Similar words
be exploited
be pwned
be held by
be controlled by
be taken over
be dominated
be compromised
get smoked
get wrecked
be in possession of
Meanings
Belong to someone as property
legal
neutral
To be held by a person, company, government, or other owner, especially with legal title or recognized control.
Usage
Use be owned when the focus is on who holds title, possession, or control, usually with by naming the owner.
Examples
The apartment building is owned by a local housing trust.
All shares in the subsidiary will be owned by the parent company.
The copyright is owned by the photographer, not the magazine.
Some coastal land can be owned privately, while other areas remain public.
By next year, the fleet may be owned outright instead of leased.
The patent was once owned by a small research lab.
The museum says the painting is owned by an anonymous collector.
Common mistakes
The passive auxiliary is dropped, or own is used where the passive phrase is needed.
Incorrect
Correct
The house owned by my aunt.
The house is owned by my aunt.
The company is owned from its founders.
The company is owned by its founders.
I am owned a bicycle.
I own a bicycle.
The software is own by the university.
The software is owned by the university.
Similar words
belong to
be held by
be possessed by
be controlled by
be titled to
be in possession of
Be compromised by an attacker
cybersecurity
technical
To have a computer, account, or system taken over or exposed through unauthorized access.
Usage
Use be owned in security writing only when the informal hacker sense fits, and choose compromised for plainer formal prose.
Examples
A weak password meant the account could be owned in minutes.
The test server was owned after the old plugin was exploited.
If the laptop is owned, stored tokens may be stolen.
The researcher showed how the router could be owned remotely.
Once the database was owned, the attackers copied customer records.
The patched service should no longer be owned through that bug.
Nobody noticed that the backup account had been owned for weeks.
Common mistakes
The hacker slang is applied too broadly, or the breach is described with the wrong preposition.
Incorrect
Correct
The server was owned from attackers.
The server was owned by attackers.
My laptop is owned with malware.
My laptop has been compromised by malware.
The breach owned my password.
My password was exposed in the breach.
The admin panel was own by a botnet.
The admin panel was owned by a botnet.
Similar words
be compromised
be hacked
be breached
be taken over
be pwned
be exploited
Be decisively defeated or embarrassed
gaming
slang
To be beaten, outplayed, or publicly embarrassed in a way that makes the loss feel complete.
Usage
Use be owned for casual internet, gaming, sport, or argument contexts where defeat is emphatic and often mocking.
Examples
Keep rushing alone and you will be owned by the other team.
He was owned in the rematch after bragging all week.
The clip shows the champion getting completely owned.
Nobody wants to be owned on a live stream.
Her comeback was so sharp that the heckler was owned instantly.
If the defense stays that slow, they are going to be owned.
The meme works because the overconfident villain gets owned.
Common mistakes
The slang phrase is forced into broken passive forms, especially after get.
Incorrect
Correct
He got be owned in the final round.
He got owned in the final round.
I was own in the debate.
I was owned in the debate.
Our team was owned with five goals.
Our team lost by five goals.
She was owned the opponent.
She owned the opponent.
Similar words
get crushed
be dominated
be humiliated
be pwned
get wrecked
be trounced
get smoked
Usage
Use the surrounding topic to separate property ownership, security compromise, and playful or mocking defeat.
Common mistakes
The auxiliary is dropped in the house owned by us, and slang uses often need got owned rather than got be owned.
Etymology
Built from be plus owned, the past participle of own. Own goes back to Old English forms meaning possessed, while the internet senses grew from slang own meaning dominate and the later respelling pwn.
FAQ
What does be owned mean in property contexts?
Be owned means that something belongs to, is held by, or is legally controlled by an owner.
What does be owned mean in cybersecurity?
In security slang, be owned means that a system, account, or device has been compromised or taken over.
What does be owned mean in gaming slang?
In gaming and online slang, be owned means to be decisively defeated, embarrassed, or outplayed.
Is be owned formal?
The property sense can be formal, but the security and defeat senses are informal or technical slang.
What is the difference between be owned and own?
Own is the active verb, as in the company owns the building. Be owned is passive, as in the building is owned by the company.
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