defraud

verb

de·fraud | \ di-ˈfrȯd

, dē-\

defrauded; defrauding; defrauds

Definition of defraud

: to deprive of something by deception or fraud trying to defraud the public Investors in the scheme were defrauded of their life savings.

Other Words from defraud Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about defraud

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Choose the Right Synonym for defraud

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

Examples of defraud in a Sentence

They were accused of trying to defraud the public. They conspired to defraud the government. She was convicted of writing bad checks with intent to defraud.

Recent Examples on the Web

So what if these people had been defrauded, lured with the promise of a luxury music festival that never came to be? — Taylor Antrim, Vogue, "Netflix’s Fyre Is a Story You Have to See to Believe," 15 Jan. 2019 Cohen himself has now been convicted of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service, and thus the American government, by evading taxes. — Dara Lind, Vox, "Michael Cohen’s joke about Hillary Clinton going to prison seems awfully ironic now," 12 Dec. 2018 The government took this as proof that Dr. Paulus had misdiagnosed patients as part of a scheme to defraud Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance companies. — Kyle Clark And Andrew George, WSJ, "A Second Opinion Becomes a Guilty Verdict," 27 Dec. 2018 The agency interpreted the order to only apply to the four plaintiffs in the case, not the scores of Corinthian students defrauded by the defunct for-profit school. — Danielle Douglas-gabriel, Washington Post, "Judge rejects DeVos’s interpretation of order to halt partial student debt relief plan," 20 June 2018 He could be sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 4 million euros ($4.5 million), in addition to the amount allegedly defrauded. — Tales Azzoni, The Seattle Times, "Cristiano Ronaldo pleads guilty to tax fraud at Madrid court," 22 Jan. 2019 Schadenfreude on Twitter is fun and all, but the spectacle of white moneyed elites defrauding a Caribbean workforce makes our delight at what happened at Fyre seem small. — Taylor Antrim, Vogue, "Netflix’s Fyre Is a Story You Have to See to Believe," 15 Jan. 2019 The other players defrauded were from the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers. — Mark Alesia, Indianapolis Star, "Man who scammed Colts player and others out of money meant for charity pleads guilty," 10 July 2018 But while for-profit schools drew regulatory scrutiny for defrauding students and loading them up with debt, SNHU positioned itself as a nonprofit alternative. — Deirdre Fernandes, BostonGlobe.com, "An education in hope," 7 July 2018

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