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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Recent Examples of fleeced
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
So how does a front office this wary of getting fleeced tackle a deadline in which they’re meant to be major players?
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
Donovan writes—the perception that men were being fleeced persisted.
—Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
And scores of those victims were fleeced by scammers inside stores owned by Circle K, one of the crypto ATM industry’s biggest corporate partners.
—Curt Devine, CNN Money, 17 Dec. 2025
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
So how does a front office this wary of getting fleeced tackle a deadline in which they’re meant to be major players?
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
Donovan writes—the perception that men were being fleeced persisted.
—Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
And scores of those victims were fleeced by scammers inside stores owned by Circle K, one of the crypto ATM industry’s biggest corporate partners.
—Curt Devine, CNN Money, 17 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fleeced
Verb
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Schiller is a man who cheated death and whose harrowing ordeal is dramatized by actor Tony Shalhoub in a recent movie.—
Troy Roberts,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
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The chat room was on fire, because Magnus Carlsen had lost to the kid—Hans Niemann—and then implied that Hans had cheated.—
Ben Mezrich,
Vanity Fair,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Beaufort, North Carolina This fishing village with century-old homes, idyllic marinas, and pristine beaches could be plucked from a vintage postcard.—
Lisa Cericola,
Southern Living,
17 Apr. 2026
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With its cast of characters essentially plucked from Fugard’s early life in Port Elizabeth, the play introduces Hally (a stand-in for Fugard) at a crossroads.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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During an interview with The Star on Friday, waiters hustled through the space with plates.—
Jenna Thompson
April 16,
Kansas City Star,
16 Apr. 2026
-
The crowd applauded when Rahm took the bag from Garcia and started carrying it himself as caddie Adam Hayes hustled to catch up to the players.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Many hospital systems in Connecticut have stopped suing their patients over unpaid bills, stung by criticism about the harm caused by aggressive collection tactics.—
Noam N. Levey,
Hartford Courant,
20 Apr. 2026
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People have reported severe reactions, including anaphylaxis, after being stung by the ant.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Sudhir Srivastava, vice president of the Noida Entrepreneurs Association, said manufacturers were being squeezed from multiple directions.—
Mayu Saini,
Footwear News,
17 Apr. 2026
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Bottom line Private credit’s share of overall financing in the US economy has grown, and when that growth slows or stops, small businesses with few other options get squeezed.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Semi-screwed There’s a world in which Colby was the most screwed over by the rock draw — because Dee and Emily are friends who already played together, and both were aligned with Cirie — but that world is one in which he was not injured and likely limping out of the game anyway.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 Apr. 2026
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A lot of times, much of a Hollywood memoir is someone saying this person screwed me over, this bad thing happened, and so on.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The seizures were the result of an investigation launched after Andress reported to Swiss authorities that she had been swindled out of assets by financial advisers.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Mar. 2026
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But according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Santa Barbara, Ireland and her husband have been swindled out of their home equity and their life insurance policies, forced to sell their home, and left without substantial savings.—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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His family said Kearns was standing on solid ground before he was sucked into the drain and got stuck under five feet of floodwaters.—
Adam Thompson,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
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Its first-stage booster made its 18th flight and stuck the landing without issue on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fleeced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fleeced. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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