as in contraband
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as in sold
to move (people or goods) from one country to another secretly and illegally
They were arrested for smuggling drugs across the border.
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Recent Examples of smuggled
Tresa Baldas, Freep.com, 13 Nov. 2025
Laboratory tests of smuggled samples taken from late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny show that he was poisoned when he was imprisoned in a Siberian penal colony, his widow Yulia Navalnaya has said.
—Anna Chernova, CNN Money, 17 Sep. 2025
Inevitably, a few students were surreptitiously checking smuggled screens that day.
—Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 5 Sep. 2025
CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
But it’s estimated that in the country of roughly 92 million people, only about 50,000 Starlink terminals have been smuggled into the country, according to digital activists cited by FreedomHouse.
—Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026
Maharaj personally transcribed some of Mandela’s memoir and smuggled it out of prison with him in 1967.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026
Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties served as distribution hubs for cocaine smuggled by Wedding’s organization, federal authorities charge.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2026
The Alabama Solution In The Alabama Solution, shot largely on cell phones smuggled into a prison by its inmates, The Jinx filmmaker Andrew Jarecki and co-director Charlotte Kauffman investigate systemic issues at Easterling Correctional Facility.
—Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 22 Jan. 2026
They are bought abroad, smuggled in and traded on the black market.
—John Ruwitch, NPR, 15 Jan. 2026
Starlink terminals are known to have been smuggled into Iran during the last large round of protests in 2022 and 2023.
—Marin Scott, NBC news, 14 Jan. 2026
Images smuggled out of the country showed a Tehran-area morgue packed with hundreds of bodies from Thursday night alone.
—Karl Vick, Time, 13 Jan. 2026
Adjective
The smuggled fungus, Fusarium graminearum, can cause billions in crop losses and is harmful to humans and livestock.
—Tresa Baldas, Freep.com, 13 Nov. 2025
Laboratory tests of smuggled samples taken from late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny show that he was poisoned when he was imprisoned in a Siberian penal colony, his widow Yulia Navalnaya has said.
—Anna Chernova, CNN Money, 17 Sep. 2025
Inevitably, a few students were surreptitiously checking smuggled screens that day.
—Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
Moscow — Russian investigators have prevented a giant meteorite fragment being smuggled to Britain disguised as a garden ornament, the Federal Customs Service reported Thursday.
—CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
But it’s estimated that in the country of roughly 92 million people, only about 50,000 Starlink terminals have been smuggled into the country, according to digital activists cited by FreedomHouse.
—Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026
Maharaj personally transcribed some of Mandela’s memoir and smuggled it out of prison with him in 1967.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026
Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties served as distribution hubs for cocaine smuggled by Wedding’s organization, federal authorities charge.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2026
The Alabama Solution In The Alabama Solution, shot largely on cell phones smuggled into a prison by its inmates, The Jinx filmmaker Andrew Jarecki and co-director Charlotte Kauffman investigate systemic issues at Easterling Correctional Facility.
—Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 22 Jan. 2026
They are bought abroad, smuggled in and traded on the black market.
—John Ruwitch, NPR, 15 Jan. 2026
Starlink terminals are known to have been smuggled into Iran during the last large round of protests in 2022 and 2023.
—Marin Scott, NBC news, 14 Jan. 2026
Images smuggled out of the country showed a Tehran-area morgue packed with hundreds of bodies from Thursday night alone.
—Karl Vick, Time, 13 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smuggled
Adjective
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The same deficiencies cited in contraband cases in the mid-2010s continue to appear in inspections a decade later.—
Walter Pavlo,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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Their world inside Parchman was defined by regulation of contraband items, the work they were told to do, conflicts with other inmates, and the corruption and neglect of the prison administrators.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The following year, the auctioneers sold a bronze participants medal from the 1920 Antwerp Olympics for £640 ($875).—
Hanna Ziady,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
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The company sold a minority stake to Crestview Partners in 2023 after nearly 75 years of family ownership.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Meanwhile, both Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers reported that unauthorized Starlink satellite communications terminals in use by Russian forces had been disrupted or disconnected, following a public appeal by Kyiv to Starlink producer SpaceX and its owner Elon Musk.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
5 Feb. 2026
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Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.—
Ryley Amond,
CNBC,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Difficulty getting Black films distributed However, when Souders came into filmmaking, her early 1922 contract came at a precarious time for the industry.—
Elijah Winkler,
Kansas City Star,
10 Feb. 2026
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Many hotels have created custom or signature scents that are distributed through professional diffusers, like HVAC systems.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Officers found the unlicensed driver, who was behind the wheel of a Nissan passenger vehicle, a short distance away.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
7 Feb. 2026
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Tanya Miller, Hallandale Beach Insensitive and stupid The only result of an English-only driving test will be millions of unlicensed and uninsured drivers on our roads.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Power is supplied by a 12-volt, 10-amp-hour lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄) battery, selected for its thermal stability, safety characteristics, and long cycle life.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Feb. 2026
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His company, Wulfgar Props, based out of Lafayette, has supplied props for major science fiction productions and independent films.—
Anna Ortiz,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Those expenditures included unapproved travel, meals, streaming subscriptions, and other charges that city officials said lacked clear authorization and oversight.—
Zachary Bynum,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
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Hardcore gym-goers initially sourced their unapproved peptides from laboratories in China, said Turnock.—
Sara Talpos — Undark,
STAT,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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When leaders discover unsanctioned AI use, the right response is not to shut it down immediately.—
David Chou,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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The unsanctioned practice is intended to push the city and county toward improving safety infrastructure for pedestrians.—
Austin Turner,
CBS News,
20 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Smuggled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smuggled. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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