extorted

Definition of extortednext
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 To dispose of his body, the group allegedly used a familiar method, placing it in a crematorium furnace in a local funeral home whose owner was being extorted by another Hells Angels member. Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026 Kraken, one of the world’s oldest crypto exchanges, said it’s being extorted by a criminal group that claims to have access to some client account information. Olga Kharif, Bloomberg, 13 Apr. 2026 Baldoni, 42, last year countersued, bringing claims against Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, alleging he’d been defamed and extorted and demanding an enormous $400 million in damages. Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 7 Apr. 2026 In schemes orchestrated with Iza, Coberg arranged a fake drug arrest and stood guard while a victim was extorted. Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026 At least three organizations have been extorted and suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages after proprietary information was posted online by IT workers. Lisa Cavazuti, NBC news, 15 Mar. 2026 Alex LaMorie, the 25-year-old man with autism shot dead by police on March 1, called the police because he was being extorted, Howard County Police Chief Gregory Der revealed Thursday. April Santana, Baltimore Sun, 12 Mar. 2026 Gonzales has denied the affair with the aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, and claims he's being extorted by her husband. Caroline Linton, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026 Nicole Curtis, the former HGTV star whose Rehab Addict show was canceled after a video surfaced of her using a racial slur, is now claiming she was being extorted. Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 18 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extorted
Verb
  • Orlando defeated Washington 1-0 to claim the 2024 NWSL Championship, while the Spirit exacted revenge with a penalty shootout victory in the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup.
    Kyle Foley, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 May 2026
  • To question or go against the grain of their household’s dynamic is unthinkable to her; thus, her frustrations are exacted upon her daughter for challenging these dynamics by merely existing as a teen girl.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • But some were also deceived or coerced.
    Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
  • In the case against Roy Blackmon, two witnesses later testified their statements were coerced.
    Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Many Americans feel financially squeezed — over half say their finances are worsening, according to a recent Gallup poll, the highest since 2001.
    Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 1 May 2026
  • And so there’s going to be times where we’re squeezed and punched.
    Doug Ferguson, Chicago Tribune, 30 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Decades of warming have wrung many parts of the US dry.
    Mark Gongloff, Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2026
  • Cover the area with a kitchen towel that has been soaked in hot water and then wrung out.
    Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 8 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Women are wrested from their seats and don’t return.
    Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026
  • OpenAI briefly considered plans to transition into a for-profit company in 2024, which would have wrested control from the nonprofit and kept it as a separate arm.
    Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 24 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Though embedded in society, these young characters are Kaspar Hauser-like figures, spectrally isolated from the signifying world, forced to construct meaning for themselves, from the ground up.
    James Wood, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
  • Liz Leone, who has 52 apartments in Las Vegas and is part of the lawsuit, said the moratorium almost forced her out of business.
    Michael Casey, Fortune, 3 May 2026
Verb
  • Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar is warning of another scam that fleeced local residents out of tens of thousands of dollars — this time targeting family members of inmates in the Bexar County jail.
    Saul Pink, San Antonio Express-News, 28 Feb. 2026
  • Mexican cartels have fleeced American victims for hundreds of millions of dollars through timeshare fraud over the decades, treasury officials said, targeted them through call centers staffed by English-speaking telemarketers.
    Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Extorted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extorted. Accessed 5 May. 2026.

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