embezzlement
CulturalExplanation
If you are glee club treasurer, and you pocket twenty glee dollars saying you used it to buy lozenges, you are committing embezzlement, the theft of money or property that you officially manage. In order for stealing to be embezzlement, you need to both be in charge of the funds or property you are stealing, and you need to conceal your theft. Because of this, it is classified as a type of fraud. People who commit embezzlement often create fake paper trails — receipts, canceled checks, false signatures — to hide their crime.
Vocabulary lists containing embezzlement
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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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.
Michael Boaz, former town manager of Pilot Mountain, N.C., was indicted on a felony embezzlement charge on May 11 for allegedly misusing taxpayer money.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
The accountant’s preliminary review cited evidence of misappropriation and potential embezzlement.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
In England, a 61-year-old first offender convicted of embezzlement would almost certainly go to an open prison - but that option does not exist in Scotland.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
Sturgeon's solicitor Aamer Anwar said the answer was standard legal advice and rejected claims it hindered the investigation which this week resulted in the conviction of her estranged husband Peter Murrell for embezzlement.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
Colonel Korn was the lawyer, and if Colonel Korn assured him that fraud, extortion, currency manipulation, embezzlement, income tax evasion and black-market speculations were legal, Colonel Cathcart was in no position to disagree with him.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
