cheat

[ cheet ]

/ tʃit /

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See synonyms for: cheat / cheated / cheating on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to defraud; swindle: He cheated her out of her inheritance.

to deceive; influence by fraud: He cheated us into believing him a hero.

to elude; deprive of something expected: He cheated the law by suicide.

verb (used without object)

to practice fraud or deceit: She cheats without regrets.

to violate rules or regulations: He cheats at cards.

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

Informal. to be sexually unfaithful (often followed by on): Her husband knew she had been cheating all along. He cheated on his wife.

noun

a person who acts dishonestly, deceives, or defrauds: He is a cheat and a liar.

a fraud; swindle; deception: The game was a cheat.

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

an impostor: The man who passed as an earl was a cheat.

OTHER WORDS FOR cheat

1 mislead, dupe, delude; gull, con; hoax, fool.

8 swindler, trickster, sharper, dodger, charlatan, fraud, fake, phony, mountebank.

9 imposture, artifice, trick, hoax.

See synonyms for cheat on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of cheat

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

synonym study for cheat

1. 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.

OTHER WORDS FROM cheat

cheat·a·ble, adjectivecheat·ing·ly, adverboutcheat, verb (used with object)un·cheat·ed, adjective

un·cheat·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cheat in a sentence

Some crowd marketers use them for link posting, but I think it is a cheat.
Crowd Marketing: Fears, perks and a comprehensive Guide|Sponsored Content: Natural Links|November 20, 2020|Search Engine Land
Students argue that the testing systems have made them afraid to click too much or rest their eyes for fear they’ll be branded as cheats.
Cheating-detection companies made millions during the pandemic. Now students are fighting back.|Drew Harwell|November 12, 2020|Washington Post
When the audience laughed he added that, “They think freedom would benefit them but they were cheated.”
50 Shades of Iran: The Mullahs’ Kinky Fantasies about Sex in the West|IranWire, Shima Sharabi|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“Westerners have been cheated when it comes to sex,” he says.
50 Shades of Iran: The Mullahs’ Kinky Fantasies about Sex in the West|IranWire, Shima Sharabi|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Fans felt cheated by the abrupt end of a marriage seasons in the making (to Lady Mary, played by Michelle Dockery).
‘The Walking Dead’ Fans Demand: Bring Back Beth!|Melissa Leon|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Others cheated by taking crib sheets to the blackboard with them, concealing them from Jackson but not from the other students.
Stonewall Jackson, VMI’s Most Embattled Professor|S. C. Gwynne|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When he chooses to cap a climactic chase seen with yet another baffling fall, we feel cheated.
Tim Winton's Beautiful, Baffling 'Eyrie'|Wendy Smith|August 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Jacob cheated his brother out of the parental blessing, and lied about God, and lied to his father to accomplish his end.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
The crowd dispersed, disappointed; cheated out of their anticipated scene of an arrest for horse-stealing.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
My brother was right, Monkey-face has constantly cheated us; it is evident that this deed emanates from him alone.
The Border Rifles|Gustave Aimard
To their last day Jenkins's clients went about, showed themselves, cheated the devouring egotism of the crowd.
The Nabob|Alphonse Daudet
And David told how he had been locked out of his own house, and cheated out of his rest.
Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail|Arthur R. Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for cheat

cheat

/ (tʃiːt) /

verb

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

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

(tr) to escape or avoid (something unpleasant) by luck or cunningto cheat death

(when intr, usually foll by on) informal to be sexually unfaithful to (one's wife, husband, or lover)

noun

a person who cheats

a deliberately dishonest transaction, esp for gain; fraud

informal sham

law the obtaining of another's property by fraudulent means

the usual US name for rye-brome

Derived forms of cheat

cheatable, adjectivecheater, nouncheatingly, adverb

Word Origin for cheat

C14: short for escheat

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cheat

OTHER WORDS FOR cheat

Origin of cheat

synonym study for cheat

OTHER WORDS FROM cheat

Words related to cheat

How to use cheat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cheat

Derived forms of cheat

Word Origin for cheat