Defraud

//dɪˈfɹɔd// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To obtain money or property from (a person) by fraud; to swindle. transitive

    "I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer."

  2. 2
    deprive of by deceit wordnet
  3. 3
    To deprive. archaic

    "Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency."

Synonyms

All synonyms
victimizeabstractandannexappropriatebag

Example

More examples

"It was an intricate scheme to defraud the rightful heirs."

Etymology

From Middle English defrauden, from Old French defrauder, from de- + frauder.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.