embezzle
Americanverb (used with object)
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embezzles,
present (3rd person singular)
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embezzled,
past participle, past
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embezzling
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
embezzlesimple
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embezzlessimple
-
have embezzledperfect
-
has embezzledperfect
-
am embezzlingprogressive
-
are embezzlingprogressive
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is embezzlingprogressive
-
have been embezzlingperfect progressive
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has been embezzlingperfect progressive
Past
-
embezzledsimple
-
had embezzledperfect
-
was embezzlingprogressive
-
were embezzlingprogressive
-
had been embezzlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of embezzle
1375–1425; late Middle English embesilen < Anglo-French embeseiller to destroy, make away with, equivalent to em- em- 1 + beseiller, Old French beseiller to destroy < ?
Explanation
When a person embezzles, it usually means that he is stealing money from his employer. If he is caught embezzling, it probably also means that he will soon be unemployed. The word embezzle implies more than simply "to steal." When a person embezzles, he or she takes advantage of an employer's trust for personal gain. Embezzling is a so-called "white-collar crime" which often involves some sort of cover-up, like falsifying financial records or stealing small amounts of money over a long period of time. The word embezzle comes from an Old French word meaning "maltreat or ravage," besillier, and an embezzler can be said to ravage someone else's money.
Vocabulary lists containing embezzle
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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.
See Examples For:
EDINBURGH—A political operative’s yearslong scheme to embezzle party funds has become a source of anger and embarrassment in Scotland, but not entirely for the reasons you might think.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell used charge cards, bank transfers and fake invoices to embezzle more than £400,000 from the party, it has been revealed.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
The wife of Ali Bongo, whose family ruled the central African country with an iron fist for 55 years, had been accused of manipulating her husband to embezzle taxpayers' money.
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025
Brodie sentenced Ng in March, 11 months after jurors found him guilty of helping former Goldman boss Tim Leissner embezzle money from 1MDB, launder the proceeds, and bribe government officials to win business.
From Reuters ● Oct. 5, 2023
By letter, persons have been introduced into circles where they had no footing, posts for whose responsibilities they were utterly unfit, and trusts whose funds they showed more faculty to embezzle than apply.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 74, December, 1863 by Various
But if a mom and pop own a dry cleaner and someone embezzles or steals $175,000 from them and they don’t get their money back, they’re done.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2017
One of the objectors embezzles money and excitement surges to the rescue.
From Time Magazine Archive
Men do not perpetrate crimes for the sake of light o' loves like Musette, unless, indeed, some wretched youth embezzles money to buy jewellery for his divinity.
From The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume
You say the mouth embezzles all, The fruit of your exertion; But I on this assembly call To prove the base assertion.
From Aesop, in Rhyme Old Friends in a New Dress by Marmaduke Park
A blue tent was set up outside the couple's home for officers to examine, log and seize some of their possessions, as they suspected they had been purchased with embezzled cash.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Only some of the embezzled goods which formed part of the final charges admitted by the ex-SNP chief executive have been retrieved.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Murrell's lawyer indicated this week that the former chief executive had enough funds to repay the sum he embezzled from the party.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Prosecutors have given more details about how Peter Murrell embezzled goods worth more than £400,000 using the SNP's money.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
But there was a man who’d embezzled money from Grandpa Vaughan’s estate after he died and whom Rosa then sued in civil court.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
The 57-year-old, known as JOH, governed from 2014 to 2022 and had been accused of embezzling $2 million in public funds to finance his 2013 presidential campaign.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has been sentenced to five years and three months in jail after he admitted to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
In a lawsuit of his own, the investor accused Ghaffar of embezzling assets to fund an extravagant lifestyle for himself and his family.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
After former SNP MP Natalie McGarry was jailed in June 2022 for embezzling £25,000 from Women for Independence and the Glasgow Regional Association she faced a proceeds of crime hearing 15 months later.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
After Scott had set up his congregation, he found that Komo was embezzling money from people who were contributing to the fight against the removal.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
