as in threatened
to use blackmail against (someone)
The old man was being blackmailed by his nephew.
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Recent Examples of blackmailed
The show, which premiered on April 9 on Netflix, centers on siblings Nicky (Dan) and Morgan (Taylor Ortega), who get blackmailed into the world of organized crime.
—
Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 13 Apr. 2026
Dan Levy knows exactly what keeps him up at night, as the possibility of being blackmailed into committing crimes has haunted him for years.
—Kennedy French, Variety, 11 Apr. 2026
The show follows two directionless siblings, Morgan and Nicky (Levy), who are blackmailed into the world of organized crime.
—Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 10 Apr. 2026
When he gets blackmailed by a mystery man, Reeves' character gets help from his high school besties, played by Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 10 Apr. 2026
In Big Mistakes, Levy and Taylor Ortega play siblings who shoplift a necklace from a jewelry store to give to their grandmother on her deathbed, only to be blackmailed by the mobsters that run the place into a series of increasingly stupid and dangerous errands.
—K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 3 Apr. 2026
Rights defenders have said that the country's top security agency, which still goes under its Soviet-era name KGB, has blackmailed members of LGBTQ+ community to force them to cooperate.
—ABC News, 2 Apr. 2026
When Martin gets blackmailed by gangsters, the pair knock off a mafia henchman and plunge themselves deep into the Australian underworld, all while trying to keep their business afloat.
—David Faris, TheWeek, 4 Mar. 2026
Decades before, Monroe was blackmailed by the CIA into becoming a mole in Zapata's Mexico City operation.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Feb. 2026
Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 13 Apr. 2026
Dan Levy knows exactly what keeps him up at night, as the possibility of being blackmailed into committing crimes has haunted him for years.
—Kennedy French, Variety, 11 Apr. 2026
The show follows two directionless siblings, Morgan and Nicky (Levy), who are blackmailed into the world of organized crime.
—Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 10 Apr. 2026
When he gets blackmailed by a mystery man, Reeves' character gets help from his high school besties, played by Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 10 Apr. 2026
In Big Mistakes, Levy and Taylor Ortega play siblings who shoplift a necklace from a jewelry store to give to their grandmother on her deathbed, only to be blackmailed by the mobsters that run the place into a series of increasingly stupid and dangerous errands.
—K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 3 Apr. 2026
Rights defenders have said that the country's top security agency, which still goes under its Soviet-era name KGB, has blackmailed members of LGBTQ+ community to force them to cooperate.
—ABC News, 2 Apr. 2026
When Martin gets blackmailed by gangsters, the pair knock off a mafia henchman and plunge themselves deep into the Australian underworld, all while trying to keep their business afloat.
—David Faris, TheWeek, 4 Mar. 2026
Decades before, Monroe was blackmailed by the CIA into becoming a mole in Zapata's Mexico City operation.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blackmailed
Verb
-
Cole threatened to sue the company.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Iran threatened retaliation after the US seized one of its cargo ships, denting hopes of an imminent peace deal.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Traditional paths to entry-level work, especially in tech, are already being squeezed as companies automate routine work.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Margins on low-cost airlines are always tight, and fuel is an outsized cost which means they’re already being squeezed hard by the energy shock.—
Hugh Leask,
CNBC,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Baldoni, 42, last year countersued, bringing claims against Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, alleging he’d been defamed and extorted and demanding an enormous $400 million in damages.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
7 Apr. 2026
-
In schemes orchestrated with Iza, Coberg arranged a fake drug arrest and stood guard while a victim was extorted.—
Brittny Mejia,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Izzo, meanwhile, drove in two runs with a groundout and a sacrifice fly.—
Tony Baranek,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Apr. 2026
-
The lack of information drove Congress last year to pass the bill forcing the DOJ to release the Epstein files.—
Curt Devine,
CNN Money,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Over the course of the last year, the Forest Service forced or coerced roughly a quarter of its approximately 30,000 employees to leave.—
Tracy Stone-Manning,
Denver Post,
21 Apr. 2026
-
My old company, Whitewater Films, hired me to write a sports comedy — Puckheads — about an aging minor league hockey enforcer who gets coerced into playing for a cartel in Mexico City.—
Nick Morton,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
When Reiten first met with Gotham, the winger was impressed by their professionalism.—
Melanie Anzidei,
New York Times,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Greg Nobile, Seaview’s co-founder and CEO, says Gold impressed the estate’s managers with his vision for the play, sharing a pitch deck filled with production and casting ideas.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Once a Red Sox fan himself — Schlittler attended the club’s 2004 championship parade with his father, John — the Yankees’ right-hander and his family were harassed by the Fenway faithful before and after that outing for the ages.—
Gary Phillips,
Hartford Courant,
20 Apr. 2026
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Other allegations against Uber drivers Mensing’s case is part of a multidistrict litigation filed by passengers who say Uber drivers assaulted or harassed them.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
After a brief pickup in transit attempts on Saturday, shipping traffic in the Gulf stalled once again, with vessels coming under fire mid-passage and being forced to withdraw.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
20 Apr. 2026
-
The debate forced a showdown that would have better been avoided.—
Nikhil Krishnan,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Blackmailed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blackmailed. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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