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

• crooked
• deceitful
• defrauding
• dishonest
• double-dealing
• false

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

Any email platform is exposed to this kind of attack, with scammers using fraudulent alerts and malicious links to entrap victims. —Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025

Affected individuals may be vulnerable to identity theft, fraudulent account openings and targeted phishing attempts. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Apr. 2025

Okta says these facilitators have been found using a variety of generative AI services that can help streamline the North Korean's fraudulent activities. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 24 Apr. 2025

But the natural blowback from that is those who were receiving the wasteful dollars and the fraudulent dollars will try to attack me and the DOGE team and anything associated with me. —Ross Rosenfeld, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025

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