blackmail
noun [U] /ˈblæk.meɪl/Definition
C2 the act of getting money from people or forcing them to do something by threatening to tell a secret of theirs or to harm them: In a position of authority, any weakness leaves you open to blackmail.Fraud and corruption
(Definition of blackmail noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
Browse related topics
You are looking at an entry to do with Fraud & corruption, but you might be interested in these topics from the Crime topic area:
- Crime - general words
- Crimes against property
- Criminals - general words
- Death penalties
- Forgery
- Gangsters, thugs & criminal organizations
- Miscellaneous criminals
- Murder & attempted murder
- Murderers & attackers
- Not punishing & reducing punishment
- People held in prison
- Physical & sexual assault & abduction
- Prisons & parts of prisons
- Punishing & punishments
- Punishing by causing pain
- Punishing someone by sending them somewhere else
- Putting people in prison
- Sex offenders
- Stealing
- Terrorism & political crime
- Trafficking & racketeering
Browse the Thesaurus
More Results for “blackmail”
SMART Thesaurus
Synonyms and related words:
- buy sb off phrasal verb
- cook the books idiom
- corrupt adjective (BAD)
- corrupt verb (MAKE BAD)
- corruption noun (BAD BEHAVIOUR)
- cybercrime noun
- defraud verb
- embezzle verb
- get at sb phrasal verb (INFLUENCE)
- imposture noun
- launder verb (MONEY)
- malfeasance noun
- malpractice noun
- match-fixing noun
- nobble verb (PERSUADE)
- rort noun
- shell noun (COMPANY)
- siphon sth off phrasal verb
- swindle verb
- tax evasion noun
Topic:
Fraud & corruption
Word of the Day
throw caution to the wind/winds
to do something without worrying about the risk or negative results
Blog
Read our blog about how the English language behaves.
New Words
Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.
