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Synonyms

embezzlement

Cultural  
  1. The stealing of money entrusted to one's care: “The treasurer of the company embezzled a million dollars.”


Explanation

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.

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Vocabulary lists containing embezzlement

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.

Embezzlement of shoe laces, ID card covers, or other materials, the booklet shows, can result in immediate firing.

From Slate • Aug. 26, 2016

Embezzlement charges had been thrown out by Judge Dora L. Irizarry, who said the statute of limitations on them had passed, a decision prosecutors plan to appeal.

From New York Times • Jul. 24, 2015

The swindle was discovered only after agents of the Department for the Struggle Against Embezzlement of Social Property dropped in for a routine inspection.

From Time Magazine Archive

“I don’t know. Embezzlement is a serious crime. It’s complicated, and I don’t understand all the details. I’m a retired French professor, not a lawyer.”

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Embezzlement of all sorts is intolerable to us: we require that each enjoy exactly in so far as right entitles him.

From Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and Travels, Vol. I (of 2) by Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von