cheat

verb \ ˈchēt \

Definition of cheat

transitive verb

1 :to deprive of something valuable by the use of deceit or fraud

cheated the elderly couple out of their property

2 :to influence or lead by deceit, trick, or artifice

a young man who cheated young women into marrying him when he was already married

3 :to elude or thwart by or as if by outwitting

cheat death

intransitive verb

1 a :to practice fraud or trickery

denied the accusation that he cheated

b :to violate rules dishonestly

cheat at cards

cheating on a test

2 :to be sexually unfaithful —usually used with on

was cheating on his wife

3 :to position oneself defensively near a particular area in anticipation of a play in that area

the shortstop was cheating toward second base

—

cheater

noun

See cheat defined for English-language learners

See cheat defined for kids

Examples of cheat in a Sentence

The players were accused of cheating.
I had to cheat in order to solve the puzzle.
The store cheats its customers through false advertising.
They cheated him out of a fair deal.
a heroin addict who has cheated death many times

Recent Examples of cheat from the Web

Consumer advocates argue that without access to courts, banks can't be held accountable for cheating customers.

— bloomberg news, NOLA.com, "John Kennedy, the freshman GOP senator who could defy Wall Street," 30 Aug. 2017
Election In the wake of Volkswagen AG’s emissions cheating, the future of diesel cars is a campaign issue in Germany’s national election on Sept. 24.

— james regan, Bloomberg.com, "German Carmakers Urged to Challenge Tesla by Senior Merkel Aide," 26 Aug. 2017
According to court documents, Asay — who bears white supremacist and swastika tattoos — later told a friend that McDowell had previously cheated him out of money in a drug deal.

— Sun-Sentinel.com, "Florida to execute first inmate since death penalty was reinstated," 22 Aug. 2017
Volkswagen is in the midst of a damaging emissions cheating scandal that has cost the German automaker some $25 billion to date.

— joseph hincks, Fortune, "Former FBI Agent Says Russian Twitter Bots Were Behind Push for McMaster Firing," 21 Aug. 2017
And Jaffe is right, players have been finding ways to cheat since the game was invented, and baseball analysis has expended a lot of effort to put different eras in context.

— zach buchanan, Cincinnati.com, "BAR: A good sign for Zack Cozart," 8 Aug. 2017
My boyfriend, working on the west coast, had been cheating on me with his colleague.

— donna freydkin, Glamour, "I Busted My Boyfriend With Another Woman—and Married Him Anyway," 27 July 2017
Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, split from her father, the actor Jon Voight, when Jolie was young, after Voight reportedly cheated.

— michelle ruiz, Vogue, "In a Bombshell Vanity Fair Interview, Angelina Jolie Opens Up About Life After Brad," 26 July 2017
The next step is to prevent people from cheating by adding transactions that one party much not agree on.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "How Cryptocurrencies Really Work," 10 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cheat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of cheat

²cheat

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1590

See Words from the same year

cheat Synonyms

Synonyms

chicane, finagle, fudge

Antonyms

content, gratify, satisfy

Related Words

crib; color, distort, falsify, misinterpret, misrepresent, misstate, pervert, twist, warp; doctor, fake, tamper (with); elaborate, embellish, embroider, exaggerate, magnify, pad, stretch; dodge, evade, hedge

Near Antonyms

fulfill (or fulfil); gladden

Synonym Discussion of cheat

cheat, cozen, defraud, swindle mean to get something by dishonesty or deception. cheat suggests using trickery that escapes observation.

- cheated me out of a dollar

cozen implies artful persuading or flattering to attain a thing or a purpose.

- always able to cozen her grandfather out of a few dollars

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

swindle implies large-scale cheating by misrepresentation or abuse of confidence.

- swindled of their savings by con artists

cheat

noun

Definition of cheat

1 :the act or an instance of fraudulently deceiving :deception, fraud

His financial activity turned out to be a great cheat.

2 or cheat code :a code (such as a button combination or password) that activates a hidden feature or capability in a computer or video game

In fact, some game levels are so tough that I had to resort to cheats to get through.
—Peter Cohen

Most people think that using a cheat code is the only way to earn a dishonest reward …
—Christopher Breen

3 :one that cheats :pretender, deceiver

is a liar and a cheat

tax cheats

[probably from a deceptive resemblance to grain]

a :chess 1

b :cheatgrass

5 :the obtaining of property from another by an intentional active distortion of the truth

See cheat defined for English-language learners

Origin and Etymology of cheat

earlier cheat forfeited property, from Middle English chet escheat, short for eschete — more at escheat

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1615

See Words from the same year

cheat Synonyms

Synonyms

bilk, bilker, trickster, cheater, chiseler (or chiseller), confidence man, cozener, defrauder, dodger, fakir, finagler, fraudster [chiefly British], hoaxer, scammer, scamster, shark, sharper, sharpie (or sharpy), skinner, swindler, tricker

Related Words

double-crosser, double-dealer; bluffer, charlatan, fake, faker, humbug, impostor (or imposter), mountebank, phony (also phoney), pretender, quack, quacksalver, ringer, sham; adventurer, fox, gamesman, knave, prankster, rascal, rogue; fast-talker, slick, slicker, slickster, slyboots, smoothy (or smoothie), wheeler-dealer; plotter, schemer, sneak, sneaker; blackleg, cardsharp (or cardsharper)

CHEAT Defined for English Language Learners

cheat

verb

Definition of cheat for English Language Learners

: to break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something
: to take something from (someone) by lying or breaking a rule
: to prevent (someone) from having something that he or she deserves or was expecting to get