extorted

past tense of extort
as in exacted
to get (as money) by the use of force or threats a school bully who was used to extorting lunch money from weaker kids

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 extorted Shannon was going through the worst thing in her life last year — getting a DUI and then being extorted for $75,000 by her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend who crashed the show — and what did Tamra do? Brian Moylan, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2025 Freedom of Speech is far more American than a hundred-thousand-dollar-per-plate dinner at Mar-a-Lago or trips to Epstein Island or bullying a network into cancelling Steven Colbert or bragging about having extorted $16 million from a movie studio. Billy Ray, Deadline, 29 Sep. 2025 Diplomats told investigators that some foreign nationals were extorted as much as $10,000 to avoid arrest at checkpoints. Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2025 His fortune also faced some hits as he was allegedly extorted. Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025 The neo-noir thriller, which is an adaptation of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low, follows David King (Washington), a successful music executive who gets extorted by an up-and-coming rapper (A$AP Rocky). Taryn Finley, Refinery29, 18 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extorted
Verb
  • Add to that the toll AIDs, the crack epidemic, and violent crime had exacted on American cities and the context of the crackdown becomes more clear.
    Andrew Pasquier, Them., 18 Sep. 2025
  • The Royals exacted their own measure of revenge against their arch nemesis.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • It’s coerced by the culture that raised them.
    Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez, Time, 8 Oct. 2025
  • The star witness was a mental patient who, in a new interview with The Tennessean, says his testimony was coerced.
    Keith Sharon, Nashville Tennessean, 7 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Freeman took rookie Chad Patrick deep for the first Dodgers run, and his teammates squeezed a second run out of Brewers closer Abner Uribe in the ninth.
    Andy McCullough, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2025
  • The iPhone 17′s margin could also be squeezed by an unfavorable product mix and a higher bill of materials cost.
    Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 13 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The more there is, the more that can be wrung out by storms.
    Chris Dolce, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Others wrung riches from the network; Berners-Lee assumed the mantle of moral authority, fighting to safeguard the web’s openness and promote equitable access.
    Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Christian music star Amy Grant and her cousin, Andy Burton, have successfully wrested control of a valuable downtown church property.
    Liam Adams, Nashville Tennessean, 8 Oct. 2025
  • No existing rival has wrested market share from Google.
    Julia Shapero, The Hill, 2 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Aidan Hutchinson forced another fumble.
    Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 13 Oct. 2025
  • The anger mirrors recent protests against ruling elites in countries including Nepal, where the prime minister was forced to resign last month, and Morocco.
    CNN Money, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • He was emboldened by the Netflix doc to make another Herschel Walker trade and got fleeced!
    Jon Machota, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
  • All the trucks that Buck Strickland buys his investors in episode 10 are from Bronco Barry’s car dealership, which fleeced Bobby into buying a horse a few episodes earlier.
    Jake Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Extorted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extorted. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.

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