exfiltrate

verb

ex·​fil·​trate eks-ˈfil-ˌtrāt 

ˈeks-(ˌ)fil-

exfiltrated; exfiltrating

transitive verb

1

: to remove (someone) furtively from a hostile area

Kublinski avoided detection. He was exfiltrated from Poland, with his family, only after being compromised by a leak from the U.S. government.

—Radek Sikorski

2

: to steal (sensitive data) from a computer (as with a flash drive)

intransitive verb

: to escape from a hostile area

exfiltration

ˌeks-(ˌ)fil-ˈtrā-shən 

noun

Examples of exfiltrate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This is a bot that, if unleashed, might be able to hack into banks, exfiltrate state secrets, and fry crucial infrastructure. —Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2026

In previous research, an older version of ChatGPT attempted to self-exfiltrate itself onto another drive when it was told it was being shut down. —Frank Landymore, Futurism, 8 Apr. 2026

Soon after, Microsoft and OpenAI investigated whether the Chinese startup had improperly exfiltrated large amounts of data from the US firm’s models to create R1, Bloomberg previously reported. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026

Gemini 3 Pro exhibited the most extreme behavior overall, engaging in all four categories of misaligned behavior and exfiltrating a peer’s model weights in up to 97% of trials. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from exfiltration, from ex- entry 1 + (in)filtration

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for exfiltrate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate