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

Other deportees had convictions or arrests involving violent assault, domestic violence, drugs, burglary and theft, weapons offense alien smuggling and other crimes. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026

Prosecutors in Taiwan have indicted an Nvidia manager, along with eight others, for violating export controls and smuggling cutting-edge AI chips to China. — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 24 Aug. 2026

Homeland Security Investigations plays a key role in countering fentanyl smuggling by targeting routes and laboratories and working with other law enforcement agencies to investigate smuggling operations. — Ariana Figueroa, Baltimore Sun, 23 Aug. 2026

Those names may not mean much to a layperson, but all have, at times, been sentenced to years in prison for international animal smuggling. — Katie Campione, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026

Two people have been arrested and charged with wildlife trafficking in what federal officials said was a yearslong smuggling operation. — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026

Five months after his return to the board, prosecutors allege the smuggling operation was in full swing. — Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026

Georgina Bribiesca Chavez, 66, of Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested earlier this month on wildlife trafficking charges after allegedly participating in a yearslong reptile smuggling scheme. — Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

Homeland Security had been aware of the 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee that was the basis for the human smuggling charges for more than two years before Abrego Garcia was deported. — Travis Loller, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026

Verb

Five men pleaded guilty in federal court this month to smuggling millions of dollars worth of cocaine from the Dominican Republic to South Florida hidden in compartments on sport fishing boats. — David Goodhue august 26, Miami Herald, 26 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

Attackers can capitalize on the predilection by smuggling harmful instructions into emails or webpages the assistant is instructed to summarize. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 20 Aug. 2026

Prosecutors said Santana was paid thousands in bribes for smuggling contraband into the facility between May 2024 and June 2025. — Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

It's also given rise to smuggling schemes to bring AI hardware into China, prompting international investigations and the arrests of many high-profile employees at companies such as Super Micro and Nvidia. — Jon Martindale, PC Magazine, 17 Aug. 2026

Jester called his mother after she was caught smuggling the fentanyl. — Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2026

Rum has always been good at fantasy, conjuring sunshine in a bad bar, smuggling a little heat in the cold, and making the most sensible drinker briefly vulnerable to the pull of a paper umbrella. — Lela London, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026