1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

embezzled

verb

past tense of embezzle
as in stole
to steal money that you have been trusted with He was caught embezzling money from his clients.

Related Words

Relevance

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 embezzled Wilson also alleged Cameron and Holden embezzled 900,000 Australian dollars ($642,000) from a joint venture company set up to make the movie. — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026 The second charge involved a package in January 2025, when prosecutors alleged Wallace embezzled a parcel entrusted to her as a Postal Service employee. — Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 21 Sep. 2026 According to investigators, Rodriguez and Perez embezzled approximately $620,000 from Iron Container between 2020 and 2025. — Abby Dodge, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026 While an investigation determined that McCauley had embezzled at least $12 million, Cook believes the amount could be even higher. — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026 An investigation determined the total amount that McCauley embezzled to be at least $12 million, but Cook thinks the figure could be even higher. — Kathleen Perricone, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Aug. 2026 Matthew Robinson was sued by his brother and a co-founder of the company, claiming $100,000 was embezzled over two years, according to a 2014 lawsuit. — Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 17 July 2026 Shia elites, like their Sunni counterparts, have embezzled billions and enriched their allies. — Nabil Salih, Time, 26 May 2026 The lawsuit brought against FanDuel by the former Jacksonville Jaguars executive who embezzled more than $20 million from the team is headed out of court. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 12 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for embezzled
  1. stole
  2. misappropriated
  3. misused
  4. appropriated
Verb
  • Thieves stole six bronze sculptures by Peter Gehring valued at over €100,000 ($114,000) from the garden of a museum near Munich.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
  • In late August, a 24-year-old man allegedly stole a Cessna 172 from an airport in Hungary while intoxicated and flew toward the area of the country’s only nuclear power plant.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of stole
Verb
  • Court findings, shared in 2025, showed that nearly 72% of the sheriff’s office spending was misattributed or misappropriated.
    — Yana Kunichoff, ProPublica, 18 Sep. 2026
  • That’s one reason there are so many arguments over the value of a team, or an athlete, or sports more generally, as more and more money chases something essentially priceless—or misappropriated, depending on your view.
    — Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of misappropriated
Verb
  • The researchers at Google argued that the risk of the algorithm being misused or rapidly developed further if it was made public was simply too great.
    — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2026
  • There’s no indication Abby couldn’t have children of her own, was depressed, misused substances or asked Andrew for a divorce.
    — Kelly Allen, PEOPLE, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of misused
Verb
  • The president responded by saying his administration wouldn't spend the $257 million appropriated by Congress on renovating the building unless the building also bears his name.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Congress has already appropriated nearly $257 million toward these repairs and other needs.
    — Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of appropriated

Browse Nearby Words

embezzle
embezzled
embezzlement
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Embezzled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/embezzled. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of bellwether

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All