BLACKMAILED Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

blackmailed

verb

past tense of blackmail

as in threatened

to use blackmail against (someone) The old man was being blackmailed by his nephew.

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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 blackmailed Racketeers blackmailed companies and executives, threatened to disrupt shareholder meetings, or intimidated other shareholders to keep quiet. — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026 Season two goes a little differently than season one, because the music exec in charge of casting the show (Ashley Padilla) is being lightly blackmailed by two … unique candidates (Jane Wickline and new cast member Grace Reiter). — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2026 Blizzard insinuated that Paramount blackmailed California into negotiating a settlement by threatening to leave the state, a common talking point raised by Bonta. — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 24 Sep. 2026 Assassination-for-hire is the tragicomic domain of people looking for someone to kill a spouse or a rival but getting blackmailed by teenagers pretending to be hit men in the process. — Finn Brunton, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026 Although Sheldon was initially blackmailed into meeting Amy, the duo quickly bonded over their similarities and went on their first official date in season 4. — Joyann Jeffrey, PEOPLE, 22 Aug. 2026 Irene has blackmailed the Bohemian royal family, Carrie is a thief who has stolen rare stamps from a penniless woman unaware of their value, and Fanny disguises as a man to gain access to a bank vault. — Literary Hub, 24 July 2026 Some students discovered the account and blackmailed Nichols into giving them better grades, the warrant states. — Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026 He was never blackmailed by Epstein. — Graham Kates, CBS News, 26 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for blackmailed

Verb

But that consensus began to fray several years ago and has recently threatened to unravel altogether as Democrats have shifted drastically and rapidly from unequivocal support for Israel, reflecting a sea change in Americans’ views.

— New York Times, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2026
Jain said a call-center representative at a Utah customer threatened to quit if the owner and his wife took Broccoli away.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of threatened

Verb

Yet profits have still been squeezed as jet fuel prices surged roughly 90% since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in February, forcing several major carriers to cut earnings forecasts.

— Reuters, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
Meanwhile, free cash flow at another budget carrier, JetBlue Airways, remains severely squeezed by elevated jet fuel prices.

— , CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of squeezed

Verb

Clement later successfully extorted one of Roshanki’s friends for $5,000 in drug proceeds, then insisted that Roshanski owed him money for drugs and fraud.

— Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026
The police chief allegedly extorted the victim and the victim’s father in connection with the pending murder case.

— Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026

Definition of extorted

Verb

In March 2024, House Republicans released a previously undisclosed transcript of the Select Committee's interview with a Secret Service officer who drove the presidential SUV.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026
But World Cup momentum drove results across linear TV and streamer ViX in Mexico, where TelevisaUnivision had rights to the matches.

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of drove

Verb

During a retrial in 2019, one of the victims and a co-defendant testified that their previous testimony implicating Bennett was coerced by a then-homicide detective.

— CBS Philadelphia, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026
Her confession to murdering her 2-year-old daughter was coerced, and the district attorney who prosecuted her case was later convicted of bribery, extortion and other crimes.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of coerced

Verb

Woodall admitted that Dornan’s performance truly impressed him.

— Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Oct. 2026
That’s one of my favorite features on the iPhone, as I’ve been impressed with Apple’s ability to turn something that should be an albatross into an appealing feature.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of impressed

Verb

In the ensuing pile-on, both were savagely harassed across social media platforms, with groypers even calling for them to be doxxed.

— Nathan Taylor Pemberton, Vanity Fair, 29 Oct. 2026
Yet against Texas, the Gators stopped the Longhorns twice on fourth down, repeatedly harassed Manning and held the Texas offense under 300 total yards.

— Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of harassed

Verb

Earlier this fall, a deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder case forced the judge to declare a mistrial.

— Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2026
CoreWeave, the biggest of the group, has seen the spread on its credit default swaps soar past 11%, as investors are forced to pay up for insurance against default.

— Kif Leswing,Isabel O'Brien, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of forced

Browse Nearby Words

blackmail

blackmailed

blackmailer

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“Blackmailed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blackmailed. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of blackmailed

verb

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