fraud

[ frawd ]

noun

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.

fraud

/ 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

Other Words From

• fraudful adjective
• fraudful·ly adverb
• anti·fraud adjective
• pre·fraud noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fraud¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of fraud¹

C14: from Old French fraude , from Latin fraus deception

Synonym Study

See duplicity.

Example Sentences

At the Heritage Foundation, von Spakovsky maintains a database of voter fraud cases and, emails show, regularly urges secretaries of state to contribute to it.

From ProPublica

As we wrote in a paper in May, fraud involving mail-in ballots requires the creation of a paper trail, making it very difficult to scale.

From Fortune

Norman is also being charged with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud for attempting to collect on multiple life insurance policies he took out on Montgomery in 2014.

From Essence.com

The embattled Paycheck Protection Program, rolled out in April to help keep small businesses alive during shutdowns, has long been flagged for possible fraud.

From Fortune

American Express is testing technology that is best known for helping create deepfake videos—realistic clips of people saying things they never really said—to fight financial fraud.

From Fortune

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice turned herself in to serve a 15-month sentence for bankruptcy fraud.

From The Daily Beast

Moraca pointed to another form of return fraud, involving gift cards.

From The Daily Beast

Return fraud has been called the invisible heist—or “de-shopping.”

From The Daily Beast

Mahoney helped author the I-STOP legislation based on data his office collected in regard to fraud.

From The Daily Beast

We are overwhelmed with data from every quarter, and our capacity to filter fact from fraud is limited.

From The Daily Beast

If the auctioneer could afterward do this he might change the name, substitute another, and so perpetrate a fraud.

From Project Gutenberg

Suppose a bank should pay more than the amount on deposit through no fraud of the holder, from whom can it recover the amount?

From Project Gutenberg

Whenever the fraud is found out an innocent subscriber can do one of three things.

From Project Gutenberg

Of course if a person has been deceived by an agent, if a fraud has been practised on him, he can avoid his contract.

From Project Gutenberg

If he wishes to act, he must lose no time after discovering the fraud that has been practiced on him.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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