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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Recent Examples of extortion
Jackson's estate escalated its legal battle against the former confidant of the late pop icon, accusing him of fabricating explosive child abuse allegations in an alleged $213 million extortion attempt, according to the filing.
—
Danielle Bacher, People.com, 9 July 2025
But his problems didn’t stop there: the investigator was also caught at the center of a massive crime enterprise that involved police corruption, drug deals, prostitution rings, extortion and more.
—Lynsey Eidell, People.com, 23 July 2025
In a court filing, a DHS official also stated Moreno had two active arrest warrants in Aragua, Venezuela, for three felony charges including theft of a vehicle, strong-arm robbery/hijacking of a vehicle and extortion.
—ProPublica, 23 July 2025
And in an echo of his disenfranchisement of Kurdish politicians, Turkish prosecutors arrested 16 mayors from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the leading opposition party, on charges of corruption and extortion.
—Ragip Soylu, Time, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for extortion
Danielle Bacher, People.com, 9 July 2025
But his problems didn’t stop there: the investigator was also caught at the center of a massive crime enterprise that involved police corruption, drug deals, prostitution rings, extortion and more.
—Lynsey Eidell, People.com, 23 July 2025
In a court filing, a DHS official also stated Moreno had two active arrest warrants in Aragua, Venezuela, for three felony charges including theft of a vehicle, strong-arm robbery/hijacking of a vehicle and extortion.
—ProPublica, 23 July 2025
And in an echo of his disenfranchisement of Kurdish politicians, Turkish prosecutors arrested 16 mayors from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the leading opposition party, on charges of corruption and extortion.
—Ragip Soylu, Time, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for extortion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extortion
highway robbery
Noun
-
Then Denver slapped him with a four-year, $60 million deal that now looks like highway robbery compared to the rest of the NFL’s inflated edge market.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
25 July 2025
-
This was a dangerous situation and was literally highway robbery.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
21 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Extortion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extortion. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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