as in cheated
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
senior citizens generally were too smart to fall for the fast-talking salesman's attempts to defraud them
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Recent Examples of defrauded
In a legal filing on Tuesday, Musk's lawyers laid out specific remedies their client is seeking if a judge and jury determine that Altman and OpenAI defrauded Musk, the world's richest person.
—
Dylan Butts, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2026
Musk is seeking more than $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing that OpenAI defrauded him as a donor by restructuring the business away from its nonprofit roots.
—Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 8 Apr. 2026
Christopher and Joseph Ponzo — ex-Stoneham police officers — defrauded a company to obtain tens of millions of dollars of Mass Save funds through paying bribes and kickbacks to company employees.
—Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 4 Apr. 2026
She was subsequently sentenced to prison for her role in a years-long telemarketing scheme that the government said defrauded innocent people across the country, and after serving two years and nine months at a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, she was released in December 2025.
—Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE, 4 Apr. 2026
The defendants were accused of running sham hospice care facilities that defrauded Medicare by using people without terminal illnesses as beneficiaries, according to the California Justice Department.
—Rena Rowe, The Washington Examiner, 2 Apr. 2026
In December 2025, YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video claiming child care centers run by Somalians in Minnesota had defrauded the state government of more than $110 million through this program.
—Jess Huff, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
The 90-year-old former Bond girl told Swiss newspaper Blick in January that she had been defrauded out of 18 million Swiss francs, approximately 20 million euros, by her longtime financial adviser over an eight-year period.
—ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026
The move came after allegations that a Pittsburgh funeral director defrauded thousands of grieving families and threw their pets into landfills.
—Tory Wegerski, CBS News, 23 Mar. 2026
Dylan Butts, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2026
Musk is seeking more than $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing that OpenAI defrauded him as a donor by restructuring the business away from its nonprofit roots.
—Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 8 Apr. 2026
Christopher and Joseph Ponzo — ex-Stoneham police officers — defrauded a company to obtain tens of millions of dollars of Mass Save funds through paying bribes and kickbacks to company employees.
—Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 4 Apr. 2026
She was subsequently sentenced to prison for her role in a years-long telemarketing scheme that the government said defrauded innocent people across the country, and after serving two years and nine months at a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, she was released in December 2025.
—Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE, 4 Apr. 2026
The defendants were accused of running sham hospice care facilities that defrauded Medicare by using people without terminal illnesses as beneficiaries, according to the California Justice Department.
—Rena Rowe, The Washington Examiner, 2 Apr. 2026
In December 2025, YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video claiming child care centers run by Somalians in Minnesota had defrauded the state government of more than $110 million through this program.
—Jess Huff, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
The 90-year-old former Bond girl told Swiss newspaper Blick in January that she had been defrauded out of 18 million Swiss francs, approximately 20 million euros, by her longtime financial adviser over an eight-year period.
—ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026
The move came after allegations that a Pittsburgh funeral director defrauded thousands of grieving families and threw their pets into landfills.
—Tory Wegerski, CBS News, 23 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defrauded
Verb
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The chat room was on fire, because Magnus Carlsen had lost to the kid—Hans Niemann—and then implied that Hans had cheated.—
Ben Mezrich,
Vanity Fair,
6 Apr. 2026
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Paul Bearman isn’t the type to just move on after he’s been cheated.—
Rich Schapiro,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Ten miles away, members of the Navy's SEAL Team Six plucked the missing weapons system officer from the mountainside.—
Lucia I Suarez Sang,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
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Deputies said the animals were tortured, mutilated, kept in coops with dead birds and live plucked.—
Timia Cobb,
Dallas Morning News,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Santos stung a volley from outside the box midway through the second half after juggling the ball with her knee, but Silkowitz dived to her right to push the ball wide of the post.—
Michael Nowels,
Mercury News,
5 Apr. 2026
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Anyone who is stung repeatedly or has trouble breathing should call 911.—
Rey Covarrubias Jr,
AZCentral.com,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Also in that story is a look at how the Padres catchers are balancing their offensive and defensive duties, and Jeff hustled out to the box seats atop the Green Monster to talk to the Padres fan who caught Machado’s homer.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 Apr. 2026
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The dads and sons hustled to a nearby dirt patch.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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As a result, many consumers are feeling squeezed.—
Mike Winters,
CNBC,
10 Apr. 2026
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The only family in his murals was the one squeezed atop the lintel.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Semi-screwed There’s a world in which Colby was the most screwed over by the rock draw — because Dee and Emily are friends who already played together, and both were aligned with Cirie — but that world is one in which he was not injured and likely limping out of the game anyway.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 Apr. 2026
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A lot of times, much of a Hollywood memoir is someone saying this person screwed me over, this bad thing happened, and so on.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The seizures were the result of an investigation launched after Andress reported to Swiss authorities that she had been swindled out of assets by financial advisers.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Mar. 2026
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But according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Santa Barbara, Ireland and her husband have been swindled out of their home equity and their life insurance policies, forced to sell their home, and left without substantial savings.—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Klipsch Austin Portable Bluetooth Speaker Deal Don't be deceived by the small Klipsch Austin portable speaker.—
George Yang,
PC Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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Svetlana Petriychuk wrote the play Finist, the Brave Falcon, based on real events, about Russian women deceived into marrying ISIS fighters and traveling to Syria.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defrauded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defrauded. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
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