defraud

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb defraud contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of defraud are cheat, cozen, and swindle. While all these words mean "to get something by dishonesty or deception," defraud stresses depriving one of his or her rights and usually connotes deliberate perversion of the truth.

defrauded of her inheritance by an unscrupulous lawyer

When might cheat be a better fit than defraud?

While in some cases nearly identical to defraud, cheat suggests using trickery that escapes observation.

cheated me out of a dollar

When would cozen be a good substitute for defraud?

The words cozen and defraud can be used in similar contexts, but cozen implies artful persuading or flattering to attain a thing or a purpose.

always able to cozen her grandfather out of a few dollars

Where would swindle be a reasonable alternative to defraud?

In some situations, the words swindle and defraud are roughly equivalent. However, swindle implies large-scale cheating by misrepresentation or abuse of confidence.

swindled of their savings by con artists

Examples of defraud in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Key Background Trump faces four felony charges of conspiracy to defraud, obstruction and conspiracy against rights for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, one of four criminal cases that have been brought against the ex-president. Alison Durkee, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024 Social media firms not doing enough to combat and remove attempts to defraud internet users was another complaint from regulatory authorities at the event. Ryan Browne, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2024 The group also allegedly set up a storefront, such as a fake drug treatment center, to make false documents to get their associates off probation or parole while defrauding Medicare and insurance providers. Eric Leonard, NBC News, 3 Oct. 2024 In 2023, Judge Analisa Torres decided that while Ripple defrauded institutional investors by selling them unregistered securities in the form of its XRP token, Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP to retail exchanges weren’t unregistered securities. Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, 3 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for defraud 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defraud.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Thesaurus Entries Near defraud

Cite this Entry

“Defraud.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defraud. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on defraud

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