defraud

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb defraud contrast with its synonyms?

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

When might cheat be a better fit than defraud?

While in some cases nearly identical to defraud, cheat suggests using trickery that escapes observation.

cheated me out of a dollar

When would cozen be a good substitute for defraud?

The words cozen and defraud can be used in similar contexts, but cozen implies artful persuading or flattering to attain a thing or a purpose.

always able to cozen her grandfather out of a few dollars

Where would swindle be a reasonable alternative to defraud?

In some situations, the words swindle and defraud 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 defraud Wall Street Journal Charlie Javice was convicted of defrauding JPMorgan—but the bank is paying her legal bills. Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2025 Gumrukcu is accused of defrauding Davis for years. Julia Marnin, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2025 Kokang’s capital Laukkaing was at the heart of the country’s multi-billion-dollar scam industry, where trafficked workers were used to defraud strangers with sophisticated online schemes. Helen Regan, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025 Hoffman initially was charged in 2021 with 13 felonies, including two counts of contributions by a foreign national, contribution in the name of another and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Chris Ramirez, jsonline.com, 25 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for defraud
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defraud
Verb
  • Guys were continually getting above pucks and taking hard strides back, not cheating for offense.
    Brad Elliott Schlossman, Twin Cities, 18 Oct. 2025
  • Regarding the subject of cheating and whether students might use AI to write essays, edX told Fortune that GradyAI has cheating detection built into its algorithms that can be turned on or off depending on the application.
    Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • In a sector already squeezed by rising land prices, material costs, and labor shortages, those weeks of manual quantification represent millions of dollars in overhead that never swing a hammer.
    Jon Stojan, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Made mostly of muscle without a bone in their bodies, these wonderful weirdos can squeeze into spaces scarcely bigger than their eyeballs.
    Kate Siber, Outside, 21 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Wentz was once plucked from a cocoon in North Dakota and thrown into the Philadelphia fire.
    Alec Lewis, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Helicopters have been plucking people off rooftops for rescue from flooding and structural damage.
    Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • While everyone else hustles about, the sloth knows that in slowness there is safety and success.
    Kate Siber, Outside, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The pair must hustle their way out of trouble involving a temperamental drug boss and a whimsical cop investigating a celebrity murder.
    Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Joey Ortiz stung a groundball to Muncy’s left.
    Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
  • But for Hovland, the lingering frustration of missing Sunday singles and watching Harris English sit out for no fault of his own still stings.
    Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Despite being deceived, Stone, who dated Garfield for four years, conceded that the actor's dedication to the secret was honorable.
    Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Oct. 2025
  • That’s 14 years of dreaming, dissolving, romanticizing, escaping, and sometimes deceiving ourselves.
    Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 19 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Former Jackson Health Foundation COO Charmaine Gatlin pled guilty to bilking millions in charity funds.
    Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 13 Oct. 2025
  • After investigating, the agency arrested eight people for rigging the game by controlling the distribution of the high prize pieces into circulation, bilking more than $20 million from the fast food chain.
    Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In November, Jackson terminated Gatlin for swindling millions of dollars from the Foundation as executives privately reeled over her betrayal of the hospital system’s fundraising arm, which raises tens of millions to benefit Jackson’s patients.
    Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2025
  • Tish only swindled the bank out of $19,000.
    Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 11 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Defraud.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defraud. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on defraud

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!