as in cheats
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 defrauds
On the flip side, its tunnel-vision focus on the Murdaughs means that the non-Murdaugh, non-murder victims left in their wake, like Mallory and her family or the clients Alex defrauds at work, are reduced to symbols.
—
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2025
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defrauds
Verb
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Though Lesnar rarely cheats to win, Femi isn’t going to lose clean.—
Blake Oestriecher,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
-
Five average players committed to protecting the middle of the ice are more effective than four great ones and one who cheats for offence.—
Murat Ates,
New York Times,
8 May 2026
Verb
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His torso and thighs grow eye-poppingly muscular beneath their skimpy fur-and-leather togs—a development that does not go unnoticed by a warrior named Red Hair, who plucks the young hunk from his post and tosses him into the prime time of the gladiator pit.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
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But the emotional gravity of this offering's deeply personal, melancholic lyrical content plucks an undeniably profound chord that uniquely separates it from the rest of his work.—
Chris Barilla,
PEOPLE,
29 May 2026
Verb
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View gallery - 10 images Intended for full-time living, the Porto squeezes a lot into its modest footprint.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
8 June 2026
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Even Zach Cherry squeezes plenty from his part as the dealership’s manager, who grows loudly resentful when Nate seems more emotionally invested in his biological children than coworkers.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
27 May 2026
Verb
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In games like Tuesday, when that deep postseason run seems realistic, UCLA pops the ball around on offense and communicates and hustles to overcome its deficiencies on defense.—
Aaron Heisen,
Daily News,
6 Mar. 2026
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Compared to the behemoth Acela, which hustles hundreds of thousands of riders between Boston, New York City, and Washington DC each month, Amtrak's Mardi Gras line is downright petite—just two 58-seat coaches, plus a café car and a 14-seat Business Class car.—
Kara Newman,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Nothing stings quite like being steps from getting your credit card out to make a glorious purchase, and finding that your promo code isn’t working.—
Hannah Chubb,
Condé Nast Traveler,
17 June 2026
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If a memory stings during work, step away briefly, write a few lines, then return with cleaner focus for the task in front of you.—
Tarot.com,
Sun Sentinel,
16 June 2026
Verb
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The complaint also claims that the image deceives customers into thinking Lipa has endorsed the product and dilutes her brand identity.—
Mary Cunningham,
CBS News,
11 May 2026
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The fragmentary Ni 12501 tablet from the Early Dynastic III period of Mesopotamia breaks off when Fox deceives the inhabitants of the netherworld in his quest to retrieve the storm god Ishkur.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Although South Africa’s devastatingly high crime rate victimizes all the country’s inhabitants, white South Africans are overall less likely than Black citizens to be crime’s victims.—
Eve Fairbanks,
The Dial,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The short version is that a simple routine plus daily habits beats a 12-step shelf of serums.—
Allison Palmer
Updated June 13,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
13 June 2026
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Observation beats honour systems.—
Dara-Abasi Ita,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defrauds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defrauds. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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