fraud

American  

[frawd] / frɔd /

noun

• frauds
  plural

1. deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.

2. a particular instance of such deceit or trickery.

   mail fraud; election frauds.

3. any deception, trickery, or humbug.

   That diet book is a fraud and a waste of time.

   Synonyms:

   hoax, wile

4. a person who makes deceitful pretenses; sham; poseur.

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fraud British  

/ frɔːd /

noun

1. deliberate deception, trickery, or cheating intended to gain an advantage

2. an act or instance of such deception

3. something false or spurious

   his explanation was a fraud

4. informal a person who acts in a false or deceitful way

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Synonym Usage

See duplicity.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prefraud
  noun
• antifraud
  adjective
• fraudful
  adjective
• fraudfully
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• frauds
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of fraud

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English fraude, from Old French, from Medieval Latin fraud-, stem of fraus “deceit, injury”

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Explanation

A fraud is a something that deceives or tricks another person, usually to get their money. Frauds are dishonest. A fraud is something that sounds too good to be true — because it isn't. If you're promised millions of dollars by anyone on the Internet, that's got to be a fraud. Anyone trying to sell you a bridge is committing fraud. Identity theft is a type of fraud. Democrats and Republicans frequently accuse the other party of fraud when it comes to counting votes. You can also tell a person who is fake or an impostor is a fraud.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fraud frauds

The hit movie of the fall is…a three-hour documentary about investor fraud?

From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026

This came to mind after three hours enjoying Nathan Fielder’s documentary “You Can See Everything” about Elizabeth Holmes—fake voice, fraud conviction and all.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

Conducting romance, cryptocurrency and investment fraud, the sites were mostly operated by Chinese nationals, 148 of whom have been extradited to China, Madagascar's justice ministry said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

Fogg, who pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at an earlier hearing, was also ordered to carry out a 24-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 120 hours unpaid work.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

They are merely honest and call a thing by its name; for there is a very great deal of fraud, injustice, and baseness in the army.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

Now they crowdsource questions about when the beds will come and how they will work and argue over which medbed whistleblowers are real and which are frauds.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

The FBI handles international cyber frauds and cross-border financial crimes.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

Nowadays, it’s mostly a financial crime, with industry publications documenting a dozen or more alleged frauds in some years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026

Acts of Man are human-made but not policy-driven, including frauds such as Edwin Ludlow’s misappropriation of funds from the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. in 1857, or the savings-and-loan failures in the mid-1980s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

Harsnett had been much influenced by Reginald Scot, and had set out to prove that cases of supposed demonic possession were in fact deliberate frauds.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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Related Words

• blackmail
• deceit
• extortion
• graft
• hoax
• misrepresentation
• scam

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