Synonyms of smuggling

smuggling 1 of 2

noun

as in poaching

Related Words

• poaching
• piracy
• kidnapping
• banditry
• rustling
• looting
• plundering
• abduction
• hijacking
• shoplifting
• pilfering
• pilferage
• black marketeering
• spoliation
• pillage
• rapine
• despoliation
• embezzlement
• carjacking
• stealing
• graft
• despoilment
• shanghaiing
• robbery
• burglary
• petit larceny
• embezzling
• misappropriation
• filching
• larceny
• petty larceny
• peculation
• thievery
• theft
• misapplication
• purloining
• housebreaking

smuggling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of smuggle

as in selling

to move (people or goods) from one country to another secretly and illegally

They were arrested for smuggling drugs across the border.

Related Words

• selling
• distributing
• trafficking
• bootlegging
• supplying
• buying
• black-marketing
• exchanging
• bartering
• fencing
• bargaining
• transacting
• reselling
• purchasing
• negotiating
• swapping
• merchandising
• auctioning
• taking
• peddling
• marketing
• retailing
• wholesaling
• vending
• horse-trading
• rebuying
• underselling
• dealing
• trading
• monopolizing
• cornering
• fair-trading
• engrossing
• picking up
• speculating
• investing
• day-trading

Dissimilar Words

• boycotting
• blacking
• blackballing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of smuggling

Noun

Many analysts say Nigeria’s fuel subsidy burdened public finances and encouraged adverse behaviors like fuel smuggling. — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026

Determined to save both his school and his future, Soulan resorts to increasingly desperate measures, including dangerous cross-border fuel smuggling, as his natural decency comes into conflict with his modest ambitions. — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2026

Officials say the deployment targets trafficking and cartel activity, but critics note crossings fell after asylum restrictions and much drug smuggling occurs through ports of entry. — Ben Finley, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026

Not a pushover but a practical-minded realist, the chef takes the punches, striking up a booze-smuggling deal with the Americans to keep the orphans living in his restaurant safe. — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026

Whistleblowers and workers say these smuggling networks tie to cartels in Twin Cities trades, including roofing, with drug and gun trafficking. — Wcco Staff, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026

Virtually everyone on the reservation had been touched by the dark side of border smuggling. — Ryan Devereaux, ProPublica, 10 Oct. 2026

His administration believed that the partnership could both deliver economic benefits and ease the way for continental cooperation on foreign policy, the environment, immigration, and drug smuggling. — Robert B. Zoellick, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2026

The panel noted that along with being a popular route for human smuggling, northern Haiti continues to feature in regional drug trafficking routes. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2026

Verb

When two brothers tried smuggling 635 turtles valued at more than $1 million, one was sentenced to a year in prison and a $15,000 fine, and the other to two concurrent year-and-a-day sentences with a $10,000 fine. — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026

Then Sean moves away and grows up to become a spy who, after wrapping up a mission involving smuggling a nuclear warhead for reasons unknown, decides to pay an impromptu visit to his tweenage buddies. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026

Sanon and several associates flew to Haiti from South Florida on a private jet, smuggling a handful of ballistic vests supplied by a Doral-area security company, prosecutors said. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026

With the goal of smuggling themselves to Turkey, the women are eventually found out for keeping a secret or two from the conspirators abetting their plan. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2026

The brave and resourceful Alice escaped the Nazis, smuggling her grandchildren to safety in England. — Barbara Spindel, Christian Science Monitor, 2 Sep. 2026

Nia then persuades Tefa to join her in smuggling cell phones into the regional prison. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2026

At night, Axira leads a secret operation, smuggling the ruler’s Heartfillers — until one mistake results in her execution date, per the book’s synopsis. — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 25 Aug. 2026

Nia persuades Tefa to join her in smuggling cellphones into the regional prison. — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 23 Aug. 2026