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

Worries over espionage and tech smuggling to China have grown as authorities continue to prosecute cases. — ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026

Goode dives into the underworld of exotic animal smuggling, a billion-dollar criminal enterprise driven by obsession over rare species. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Investigators later determined the pilot had previously been involved in prior drug smuggling assignments. — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 7 Aug. 2026

The takedown of the group underscored the highly professional and lucrative nature of migrant and drug smuggling operations in the narrow sea that separates Europe from North Africa. — Mike Corder, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026

As a lifelong lover of reptiles, Eric Goode has known about the world of exotic reptile smuggling for decades. — Rory Doherty, Time, 6 Aug. 2026

Goode charts the exploitation and mistreatment of reptiles that are illegally sold and sometimes endangered through intricate, decades-old smuggling operations that have often, but not always, escaped detection at airports. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2026

We're invested in reptile-smuggling documentary series Monsters of God, a new season of Conan O'Brien Must Go, movies from A24 and Lionsgate, and more. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 30 July 2026

Verb

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

Four people, including a man serving time for murder, have been arrested and accused of smuggling drugs and other contraband into the Pulaski County jail, a news release from the county sheriff's office says. — Arkansas Online, 8 Aug. 2026

The Civil Guard said the operation with Ecuador’s National Police, which was overseen by Europol, targeted a ring that was financed by investors in Dubai and was smuggling drugs from South America into Spain in shipping containers. — ABC News, 5 Aug. 2026

On July 20, the Department of Justice announced that three Mexican men pleaded guilty to smuggling hundreds of people south from Canada into New York, then transferring them to the Midwest. — Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 29 July 2026

Just days ago, officials said Indonesian authorities arrested two Russian nationals suspected of smuggling drugs into Bali after a high-speed car chase hit several pedestrians. — CBS News, 11 June 2026

Bootleggers smuggling various liquors like whiskey and gin found that the soft drink was particularly good at making these spirits easier to drink. — Andrea Romano, Travel + Leisure, 9 June 2026

In June 2025, the Justice Department charged three Chinese citizens who did research at U-M with smuggling biological hazards into the United States. — John Wisely, Freep.com, 3 June 2026