embezzle
verb
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English is full of verbs that mean “to steal” (such as pilfer, rob, swipe, plunder, filch, and thieve). But when it comes to stealing property (and in this context, money is a kind of property) that has been entrusted to you, embezzle wins the prize. The word most often refers to theft of company or government funds that one has charge of, and embezzlement is therefore a hallmark of white-collar crime—that is, crime committed by so-called “white-collar” workers. In the 15th century, around the time that embezzlement entered English (the ultimate root is Anglo-French besiller “to steal, plunder”), it would have also been possible to say that such plunderers “bezzled” company cash, but bezzle is now considered obsolete.
Examples of embezzle in a Sentence
Elaine Kurtenbach, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024
Then Gibson reached out again during the court trial for Michael Avenatti, Daniels’s attorney who was convicted in 2022 of embezzling from her and who is now serving 19 years in prison for his crimes against Daniels and others.
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2024
According to The New York Times, Selena and her family accused Saldívar of embezzling money from the singer's businesses during a meeting on March 2, 1995.
—Jacqueline Weiss, Peoplemag, 17 Feb. 2024
He had been charged by Prosecuting Attorney Alex Streett of Russellville with embezzling $295,040 in county funds on 98 separate charges.
—arkansasonline.com, 12 Feb. 2024
Michel fired Kenner following his April 2023 conviction on 10 felony counts stemming from his involvement with a Malaysian billionaire accused of embezzling billions from that country’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
—Daniel Barnes, NBC News, 27 Jan. 2024
Two former Milwaukee Department of Public Works employees have pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 from the city and gambling the funds at Potawatomi Casino Hotel, according to court records.
—Journal Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2024
Najib, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2018, was found guilty of money laundering, abuse of power and other charges in 2020 related to the 1MDB scandal, which saw billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money embezzled out of Malaysia.
—Heather Chen, CNN, 2 Feb. 2024
That's supported by a filing in Waukesha County Circuit Court by John Wirth, the receiver overseeing the company's liquidation, that said an employee had embezzled more than $500,000 from the company.
—Karl Ebert, Journal Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'embezzle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Middle English embesilen, from Anglo-French embesiller to make away with, from en- + besiller to steal, plunder
15th century, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Embezzle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/embezzle. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
embezzle
verb
Legal Definition
embezzle
transitive verb
Anglo-French embeseiller to make away with, from en-, prefix stressing completion + beseller to snatch, misappropriate, from Old French, to destroy
More from Merriam-Webster on embezzle
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for embezzle
Nglish: Translation of embezzle for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of embezzle for Arabic Speakers
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