Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

fraud

[frawd]
See more synonyms for fraud on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.
  2. a particular instance of such deceit or trickery: mail fraud; election frauds.
  3. any deception, trickery, or humbug: That diet book is a fraud and a waste of time.
  4. a person who makes deceitful pretenses; sham; poseur.
Show More

Origin of fraud

1300–50; Middle English fraude < Old French < Medieval Latin fraud- (stem of fraus) deceit, injury
Related formsfraud·ful, adjectivefraud·ful·ly, adverban·ti·fraud, adjectivepre·fraud, noun

Synonyms

See more synonyms for fraud on Thesaurus.com
3. wile, hoax.

Synonym study

1. See duplicity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for fraud

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "Then I can only say that Captain Rushton was a party to the fraud," he said.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • "I'll venture insurance is at the bottom of this fraud, Caradoc," hazarded Madden.

  • When it is complicated by fraud or other crimes, it is the latter only which are concerned.

  • You mean it for the best; but I could not be party to a fraud.

    Cleo The Magnificent

    Louis Zangwill

  • How was it you did not detect the fraud, if only by the voice?

    A Nest of Spies

    Pierre Souvestre

British Dictionary definitions for fraud

fraud

noun
  1. deliberate deception, trickery, or cheating intended to gain an advantage
  2. an act or instance of such deception
  3. something false or spurioushis explanation was a fraud
  4. informal a person who acts in a false or deceitful way
Show More

Word Origin

C14: from Old French fraude, from Latin fraus deception
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

Word Origin and History for fraud

n.

"criminal deception," early 14c., from Old French fraude "deception, fraud" (13c.), from Latin fraudem (nominative fraus) "deceit, injury." The noun meaning "impostor, humbug" is attested from 1850. Pious fraud "deception practiced for the sake of what is deemed a good purpose" is from 1560s.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper