fraudulent
Americanadjective
-
characterized by, involving, or proceeding from fraud, as actions, enterprise, methods, or gains.
a fraudulent scheme to evade taxes.
-
given to or using fraud, as a person; cheating; dishonest.
- Synonyms:
- unscrupulous, underhanded, crooked
-
false or deceiving; phony; misleading.
They’ve concocted a series of fraudulent pretexts for the invasion that collapse instantly on examination.
adjective
-
acting with or having the intent to deceive
-
relating to or proceeding from fraud or dishonest action
Other Word Forms
- fraudulence noun
- fraudulency noun
- fraudulently adverb
- nonfraudulence noun
- nonfraudulency noun
- nonfraudulent adjective
- nonfraudulently adverb
- unfraudulent adjective
- unfraudulently adverb
Etymology
Origin of fraudulent
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin fraudulentus; fraud, -ulent
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.
According to trade association UK Finance, fraudulent spending on UK-issued debit and credit cards is on the rise.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
"The government is taking several steps to ensure that there is investigation and immediate action against any fraudulent practices," Jaya Narayan Acharya, spokesman at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, told AFP.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
During the pandemic, the state paid an estimated $30 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims, including to state prisoners and criminals who used patently false identities like then-Sen.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
In fact, you should treat any transaction as potentially fraudulent from the start, and not wait until the moment you know you’re being scammed.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026
From the social point of view the slow and possibly fraudulent unraveling of a multi-trillion-dollar U.S. bond market was a catastrophe.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
