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 As an example of money wasted by LAHSA’s lack of financial controls, Turner cited the recent federal indictment alleging a homeless services provider fleeced the system of $23 million in fraudulent billings. — Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026 Some television-repair programs, for example, offered free TV sets to get veterans in the door and then fleeced VA for their tuition. — Andrew Ba Tran, Washington Post, 22 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fleeced

Verb

Not to be cheated in front of the largest assembly of Hall of Famers since the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, Schwarber flew out twice to deep center field.

— Dan Hayes, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
Bo told Lu that if the audit produced evidence that he had been cheated, Wang should go to prison.

— Hailey Wang, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of cheated

Verb

Doubs plucked the ball over Gonzalez, who had successfully backed him near the boundary but couldn’t box out the 6-foot-2 receiver entirely.

— Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 10 Aug. 2026
The bass player plucked each of his instrument’s four strings, one at a time, while turning the corresponding tuning pegs.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of plucked

Verb

Hate crime charges have been filed against a man who disrupted Shabbat services in Manhattan's Central Synagogue and struck two people while being hustled outside Friday night.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026
Hong’s early capture of the data-center issue, which was not especially ideological, is a good example of how consistently the Party’s much larger traditional wing has been out-hustled.

— Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of hustled

Verb

Silver is now in its fifth straight year of structural deficit, squeezed by solar, electric vehicles, and the hardware powering AI.

— Rob Kaplan, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Affordability does not improve when Washington adds trillions to the debt while working families are still getting squeezed.

— Terry Collins, USA Today, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of squeezed

Verb

The hardest physical part was actually taking down the old blinds, which had been screwed tightly into the window frame years prior.

— Scott Kramer, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
But the war needs to end because every day that the war continues, America gets weaker, Iran gets stronger, and people here in the United States get screwed, as prices go up, and up and up.

— NBC news, NBC news, 9 Aug. 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 20 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of fleeced

verb

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