fraudulent

adjective

fraud·​u·​lent ˈfrȯ-jə-lənt 

: characterized by, based on, or done by fraud : deceitful

fraudulent use of a credit card

fraudulent claims for unemployment compensation

—Wall Street Journal

fraudulently adverb

fraudulentness noun

Synonyms of fraudulent

• dishonest
• false
• deceptive

Examples of fraudulent in a Sentence

Corrupt leaders were chosen in a fraudulent election.

fraudulent use of a credit card

the victim of a fraudulent scheme

Recent Examples on the Web

Henao's brother, Felipe, claimed in a civil complaint filed in May 2026 that Knezevich and his lawyers had systematically drained his sister of about $6 million in equity for over a year through fraudulent transactions. —Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026

Roughly 9,000 fake websites and more than 1 million fraudulent URLs are allegedly connected to the group, as well as 55,000 spam texts flagged by Android users in just two weeks in May. —Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 13 June 2026

Equally reckless, unfunded promises have been made to victims of decades-old child abuse, with few safeguards against fraudulent claims. —George Liebmann, Baltimore Sun, 13 June 2026

Done well, an agent that never sleeps can catch a fraudulent transfer at two in the morning, or rescue a payment about to be rejected over a missing code, the kind of save that protects ordinary customers as much as the bank. —Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

fraudulent

adjective

fraud·​u·​lent ˈfrȯ-jə-lənt 

: based on or done by fraud

fraudulently adverb

fraudulentness noun

Legal Definition

fraudulent

adjective

fraud·​u·​lent

: characterized by, based on, or done by fraud compare deceptive, false, misleading

fraudulently adverb