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

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 extortion Migrants in Libya are routinely arbitrarily detained and placed in squalid detention centers where they are subjected to extortion, abuse, rape and killings. Renata Brito, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2025 And his whole presidency began with launching tools for bribery, meme coins to fleece working people and move around money in the dark, extortion settlements from media companies and law firms who gladly pay them. Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025 Baldoni then filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of defamation and extortion. Bryan West, USA Today, 9 May 2025 In an interview with The Charlotte Observer, Brooksby disputed that members of the Estates were involved in bid-rigging or extortion. Ames Alexander, Charlotte Observer, 27 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for extortion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extortion
highway robbery
Noun
  • To me, one meant highway robbery and the other meant equal pain, equal pleasure.
    Jim Cramer, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2025
  • The Nets‘ famous offseason trade with the Knicks — centered around Mikal Bridges — looks more like highway robbery each day.
    C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Extortion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extortion. Accessed 22 May. 2025.

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