cheat 1 of 2

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as in to disappoint
to fall short in satisfying the expectation or hope of the daredevil survived his plunge over the falls with barely a scratch, having cheated death once again

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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cheat

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noun

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb cheat contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of cheat are cozen, defraud, and swindle. While all these words mean "to get something by dishonesty or deception," cheat suggests using trickery that escapes observation.

cheated me out of a dollar

When can cozen be used instead of cheat?

The words cozen and cheat are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cozen implies artful persuading or flattering to attain a thing or a purpose.

always able to cozen her grandfather out of a few dollars

When is defraud a more appropriate choice than cheat?

The meanings of defraud and cheat largely overlap; however, 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

Where would swindle be a reasonable alternative to cheat?

In some situations, the words swindle and cheat are roughly equivalent. However, swindle implies large-scale cheating by misrepresentation or abuse of confidence.

swindled of their savings by con artists

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cheat
Verb
Iran's response: cheating and hiding its nuclear weapons program; sprinting toward a bomb; and trying to assassinate senior American officials, including President Trump. Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 June 2025 Trouble is, the elder Broadway managed to cheat St. Christopher out of his share of the plunder. Joe Leydon, Variety, 13 June 2025
Noun
Her most notable reporting has been about taxes, including exposing billionaire tax cheats and writing cover stories on tax shelters (both corporate and individual), tax evasion, tax informants, tax administration, tax policy and legitimate tax planning. Emma Whitford, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025 Adults eat it on their cheat day, birthday, moving day. Eric Kim, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cheat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cheat
Verb
  • But shortly after its investigation was published, Freeman sent a six-page letter about it to Elite employees and families, saying the article misrepresented Elite and ignored its students and achievements.
    Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 June 2025
  • Rules of interpretation Companies have to tread a fine between between redesigning their products and fraudulently misrepresenting product classifications.
    Anniek Bao, CNBC, 18 June 2025
Verb
  • Even Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander quickly went over, touched Haliburton on the head as the Pacers guard lay face-down on the court and offered a kind word.
    Tim Reynolds, Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2025
  • The answer lies in his DNA, intertwined with that soil in La Grange, where families in Lubbock County still lounge in backyards across Fayette County and swap tales of one Lawrence Dobbins.
    Luca Evans, Denver Post, 22 June 2025
Verb
  • Norsk Tipping also apologized for the error and for disappointing its customers.
    Escher Walcott, People.com, 30 June 2025
  • Jonathan Anderson’s debut at Dior was big news and his interpretation of the house codes and plays on volume did not disappoint.
    Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 30 June 2025
Verb
  • Paul Blackburn, with plenty of starting experience for Oakland, could squeeze into the picture too – especially if the Mets decide to try a six-man rotation that would save wear and tear on each man.
    Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025
  • When pancake is ready to flip, squeeze the cinnamon mixture into a swirl shape on top of the pancake batter, pressing the tip of the bag slightly into the batter.
    Elizabeth Nelson, Southern Living, 27 June 2025
Noun
  • Try, try again Speaking of classes, the eight options here tend to fall into the usual archetypes for this kind of action-adventure game: the tank, the mage, the defensive specialist, the dextrous dodger, etc.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 May 2025
  • The layoffs of roughly 7,000 Internal Revenue Service probationary workers beginning this week probably mean the end of the agency’s plan to go after high-wealth tax dodgers and could spell disaster for revenue collection, experts say.
    Fatima Hussein, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Cochran drove in a manner that indicated to Taylor that the sheriff was trying to evade him, Welch said.
    Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 28 June 2025
  • Last year, the Russians began including decoy drones with their Shahed drones to increase the likelihood of evading Ukrainian defenses.
    Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025
Verb
  • Alex was on his phone and computer constantly, never sleeping.
    Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 22 June 2025
  • Nannies sleeping at their employers’ houses Susan, an immigrant from Guatemala, has been a nanny for 18 years.
    Jenny Gold, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2025
Verb
  • So the Marian commit hustled home on junior left fielder Nevaeh Rangel’s flyout in the ninth inning, trying to break a scoreless tie.
    Michael Osipoff, Chicago Tribune, 14 June 2025
  • What comes through is the steely resolve that all top producers have – and need – to hustle film and TV projects into production, but also a desire to be completely connected to the creative.
    Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 13 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Cheat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cheat. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.

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