as in cheating
the exaction of a grossly excessive charge for goods or services
six dollars for a cup of coffee is just plain extortion
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of extortion
Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones faces allegations of extortion from a former employee who filed a federal lawsuit naming both him and the city as defendants.
—
Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
Once inside, the group typically steals large datasets and uses extortion threats to pressure companies into paying ransoms.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 29 Dec. 2025
The same day, the actor-director filed his own lawsuit for $400 million for civil extortion and defamation against The New York Times, Lively, Reynolds, 48, and publicist Leslie Sloane.
—Marina Watts, PEOPLE, 29 Dec. 2025
He gets chased by cops, swindles the wrong ping-pong goobers and becomes embroiled in a canine extortion scheme.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for extortion
Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
Once inside, the group typically steals large datasets and uses extortion threats to pressure companies into paying ransoms.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 29 Dec. 2025
The same day, the actor-director filed his own lawsuit for $400 million for civil extortion and defamation against The New York Times, Lively, Reynolds, 48, and publicist Leslie Sloane.
—Marina Watts, PEOPLE, 29 Dec. 2025
He gets chased by cops, swindles the wrong ping-pong goobers and becomes embroiled in a canine extortion scheme.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for extortion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extortion
Noun
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Instead, tax enforcement has been starved, and large-scale cheating has proliferated.—
Washington Post,
Washington Post,
8 Jan. 2026
-
The process seems to be amicable; there was no cheating or abuse.—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The only tactics barred were eye gouging, groin strikes, and biting, none of which was especially policed.—
Sally Jenkins,
The Atlantic,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Even if what Weyland-Yutani has is blood-sucking, eye-gouging, and chest-bursting alien monsters.—
James Grebey,
Vulture,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Three games into his Colorado Rapids tenure, the club paying $125,000 in General Allocation Money — less than the going price of an international roster slot — is looking like highway robbery.—
Braidon Nourse,
Denver Post,
14 Sep. 2025
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This was a dangerous situation and was literally highway robbery.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
21 July 2025
Noun
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While that’s substantial, even a much larger overcharging estimate on the part of PBMs would be a far cry from the $38 trillion national debt.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
6 Jan. 2026
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Jeevarajan’s team also subjected batteries to overcharging and to electrical shorts.—
Andrew Moseman,
IEEE Spectrum,
22 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Extortion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extortion. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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