cheat

[cheet]

verb (used with object)

1. to defraud; swindle.

   He cheated her out of her inheritance.

   Synonyms: fool, hoax, con, gull, delude, dupe, mislead

2. to deceive; influence by fraud.

   He cheated us into believing him a hero.

3. to elude; deprive of something expected.

   He cheated the law by suicide.

verb (used without object)

1. to practice fraud or deceit.

   She cheats without regrets.

2. to violate rules or regulations.

   He cheats at cards.

3. to take an examination or test in a dishonest way, as by improper access to answers.

4. Informal.,  to be sexually unfaithful (often followed byon ).

   Her husband knew she had been cheating all along. He cheated on his wife.

noun

1. a person who acts dishonestly, deceives, or defrauds.

   He is a cheat and a liar.

   Synonyms: mountebank, phony, fake, fraud, charlatan, dodger, sharper, trickster, swindler

2. a fraud; swindle; deception.

   The game was a cheat.

   Synonyms: hoax, trick, artifice, imposture

3. Law.,  the fraudulent obtaining of another's property by a pretense or trick.

4. an impostor.

   The man who passed as an earl was a cheat.

cheat

/ tʃiːt /

verb

1. to deceive or practise deceit, esp for one's own gain; trick or swindle (someone)

2. (intr) to obtain unfair advantage by trickery, as in a game of cards

3. (tr) to escape or avoid (something unpleasant) by luck or cunning

   to cheat death

4. informal,  to be sexually unfaithful to (one's wife, husband, or lover)

noun

1. a person who cheats

2. a deliberately dishonest transaction, esp for gain; fraud

3. informal,  sham

4. law the obtaining of another's property by fraudulent means

5. the usual US name for rye-brome

Other Word Forms

• cheatable adjective
• cheatingly adverb
• outcheat verb (used with object)
• uncheated adjective
• uncheating adjective
• cheater noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheat¹

1325–75; Middle English chet (noun) (aphetic for achet, variant of eschet escheat ); cheten to escheat, derivative of chet (noun)

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheat¹

C14: short for _escheat

Synonym Study

Cheat, deceive, trick, victimize refer to the use of fraud or artifice deliberately to hoodwink or obtain an unfair advantage over someone. Cheat implies conducting matters fraudulently, especially for profit to oneself: to cheat at cards. Deceive suggests deliberately misleading or deluding, to produce misunderstanding or to prevent someone from knowing the truth: to deceive one's parents. To trick is to deceive by a stratagem, often of a petty, crafty, or dishonorable kind: to trick someone into signing a note. To victimize is to make a victim of; the emotional connotation makes the cheating, deception, or trickery seem particularly dastardly: to victimize a blind man.

Example Sentences

In the musical, the cheating scene involves a friend and happens after she has matter-of-factly turned him down in public.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

I make a mental note to stop cheating in Monopoly.

Read more on Literature

She always charged double to the swankily dressed; at solitaire she cheated like mad.

Read more on Literature

And regulars have made a packed return, with 17 teams taking part, though the almost Traitors-like tale of alleged cheating looms large.

Read more on BBC

But Stanley, sure that Blanche has cheated Stella out of her inheritance, wants her gone.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bilk 
• con 
• deceive 
• defraud 
• delude 
• dupe 
• fleece 
• hoodwink 
• mislead 
• swindle 
• trick 
• victimize