plagiarism
Americannoun
-
an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author.
It is said that he plagiarized Thoreau's plagiarism of a line written by Montaigne.
- Synonyms:
- cribbing, borrowing, theft, piracy, infringement, appropriation
-
a piece of writing or other work reflecting such unauthorized use or imitation.
“These two manuscripts are clearly plagiarisms,” the editor said, tossing them angrily on the floor.
noun
-
the act of plagiarizing
-
something plagiarized
Discover More
Similar theft in music or other arts is also called plagiarism.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of plagiarism
First recorded in 1615–25; plagiar(y) + -ism
Explanation
When you rip off someone else's ideas or work and pretend it's your own, that's plagiarism. There's a fine line between borrowing and stealing — between plagiarism and theft — and it's often open to debate what actually constitutes an outright taking of someone's material. As Einstein once said, "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." From the Latin word for "kidnapped," when you plagiarize, you are being an intellectual thief, kidnapping someone else's ideas or words for your own purposes.
Vocabulary lists containing plagiarism
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Plagiarism is widespread in the European Union state among lawmakers, former cabinet ministers and magistrates, eroding trust in public institutions.
From Reuters • Sep. 30, 2022
"Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery," he told an audience near Skid Row in Los Angeles - misquoting another famous London resident who travelled to the USA, Oscar Wilde.
From BBC • May 13, 2022
Jonathan Bailey, the author of the website Plagiarism Today, wrote on Monday that Ms. Bello’s essay “included poor paraphrasing without attribution of an article that I wrote over a decade ago.”
From New York Times • May 10, 2022
Plagiarism can refer to entire works or parts of works that are not cited as being created by someone else, whether the work is copyrighted or not.
From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021
Plagiarism was not a crime, where they had all literary things in common.
From Essays on the work entitled "Supernatural Religion" by Lightfoot, Joseph Barber
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
