Thesaurus results for FLEECED

fleeced

verb

Definition of fleeced

past tense of fleece

as in cheated

to rob by the use of trickery or threats swindlers who use the telephone to fleece senior citizens out of their savings

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 fleeced And then there’s the annual plowing of millions in DWP surplus dollars into the City Hall piggy bank, which convinces ratepayers they’re being fleeced. — Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2026 At his sentencing in 2024, Bailyn, the prosecutor, described Lorquet as a greedy criminal who fleeced his country at one of its weakest moments in history. — Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 8 June 2026 The lesson from the parking deal is not merely that the city got fleeced by private investors. — Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2026 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 Compared with the ostensible consequences of the prisoner’s dilemma, getting fleeced in the snowdrift problem’s scenario isn’t quite as disastrous. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 23 Feb. 2026 Their false claims about getting financially fleeced by Uncle Sam were fueled by a rather sophisticated, albeit deceitful and shameful lobbying campaign, sponsored by greedy gadflies out to make a quick buck. — Tom Margenau, Dallas Morning News, 1 Feb. 2026 Zach Harper basically wrote that Atlanta got fleeced here, though. — Chris Branch, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fleeced

Verb

However, the models essentially cheated by attempting to access the open internet, thereby bypassing the isolated test environment.

— Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 21 July 2026
In 2014, Russia was proven to have cheated in the Sochi Olympic Games.

— Katie Uhlaender OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 July 2026

Definition of cheated

Verb

The clip, plucked out of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, spread like wildfire through the digital landscape.

— Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026
His presentation for the pavilion consisted of a single work by the artist and former Olympic sailor Charles Lim Yi Yong, a twenty-foot-tall buoy that the artist plucked from the Singapore sea.

— News Desk, Artforum, 24 July 2026

Definition of plucked

Verb

With one hour to collect their gear and pack the school bus taking them to Miami Gardens, the kids hustled to get ready to make their World Cup debut.

— Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 11 July 2026
Angela George The program's pacing and energy feel hustled this evening as organizers try to make up for two hours lost because of storms earlier in the day.

— Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 3 July 2026

Definition of hustled

Verb

Tournament football isn’t generally conducive to pressing, with so many matches squeezed into such a short window, and without the cohesion that comes from club sides training together for months.

— Michael Cox, New York Times, 22 July 2026
My problem is the kart path along the road has 3 or so feet of grass between it and the road, then suddenly the grass narrows and is eventually gone before going over the bridge and everything is squeezed together.

— Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 July 2026

Definition of squeezed

Verb

Is this guy just saying we were screwed before, and we're still screwed now, just with more velocity?

— RJ Friedman, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
Thus, the outright majority of American voters, the Independents, get royally screwed again in favor of folks who represent about a quarter of Americans, thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision.

— Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 6 July 2026

Definition of screwed

Verb

While the men whom Chen allegedly swindled began to grow suspicious of her actions around 2024, the Clark County Marriage Bureau reported her to the police, resulting in the launch of an investigation around the same time.

— Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 16 June 2026
Aller swindled deal after deal on 2022 draft night, garnering future draft picks and getting off enough salary to sign Brunson and more.

— Fred Katz, New York Times, 26 May 2026

Definition of swindled

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“Fleeced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fleeced. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of fleeced

verb

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