What does "blackmail" mean?
The extortion of money or favors by threats of public accusation, critique, or exposure.
Blackmail
/ˈblækˌmeɪl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The extortion of money or favors by threats of public accusation, critique, or exposure.
- Grammar: blackmail is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: account, allowance, appeal to, ask.
- Useful contrasts: consent, voluntary disclosure, voluntary payment.
- Usage evidence: The victim of blackmail has been paying hush money for years, but now he realizes it is foolish, and has decided not to pay a red cent more.
How to use "blackmail"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "blackmail" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "blackmail" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "blackmail" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "blackmail" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "blackmail" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "account" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "blackmail", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The extortion of money or favors by threats of public accusation, critique, or exposure. uncountable
- 2 extortion of money by threats to divulge discrediting information wordnet
- 3 Compromising material that can be used to extort someone. broadly, uncountable
- 4 Compromising material that can be used to extort someone.; A type of roleplay where the submissive shares information that may be exploited by the dominant. broadly, uncountable
- 5 A form of protection money (or corn, cattle, etc.) anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to the allies of robbers in order to be spared from pillage. archaic, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Black rent; rent paid in corn, meat, or the lowest coin, as opposed to white rent, which was paid in silver. England, historical, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To extort money or favors from (a person) by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, such as injury to reputation, distress of mind, false accusation, etc. transitive
"He blackmailed a businesswoman by threatening to expose an alleged fraud."
- 2 obtain through threats wordnet
- 3 To speak ill of someone; to defame someone. Kenya
- 4 exert pressure on someone through threats wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The victim of blackmail has been paying hush money for years, but now he realizes it is foolish, and has decided not to pay a red cent more."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "blackmail"?
Common synonyms include: account, allowance, appeal to, ask, ask for, assessment.
How do you use "blackmail" in a sentence?
The victim of blackmail has been paying hush money for years, but now he realizes it is foolish, and has decided not to pay a red cent more.
How do you pronounce "blackmail"?
Pronounced /ˈblækˌmeɪl/.
Etymology
From black + mail (“a piece of money”). Compare Middle English blak rente (“a type of blackmail levied by Irish chieftains”). The word is variously derived from the tribute paid by English and Scottish border dwellers to border reivers in return for immunity from raids and other harassment. This tribute was paid in goods or labour, in Latin reditus nigri (“black mail”); the opposite is blanche firmes or reditus albi (“white rent”), denoting payment by silver. McKay derives it from two Scottish Gaelic words blàthaich, pronounced (the th silent) bl-aich, "to protect" and màl (“tribute, payment”). He notes that the practice was common in the Scottish Highlands as well as the Borders. More likely, from black + Middle English mal, male, maile (“a payment, rent, tribute”), from Old English māl (“speech, contract, agreement, lawsuit, terms, bargaining”), from Old Norse mál (“agreement, speech, lawsuit”); related to Old English mæðel (“meeting, council”), mæl (“speech”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌸𐌻 (maþl, “meeting place”), from Proto-Germanic *maþlą (“gathering, agreement”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to give advice, measure”). From the practice of freebooting clan chieftains who ran protection rackets against Scottish farmers. Black from the evil of the practice. Expanded c. 1826 to any type of extortion money. Compare silver mail (“rent paid in money”) (1590s); buttock mail (“fine imposed for fornication”) (1530s, Scottish).