fraudulent

American  

[fraw-juh-luhnt] / ˈfrɔ dʒə lənt /

adjective

1. characterized by, involving, or proceeding from fraud, as actions, enterprise, methods, or gains.

   a fraudulent scheme to evade taxes.

2. given to or using fraud, as a person; cheating; dishonest.

   Synonyms:

   unscrupulous, underhanded, crooked

3. false or deceiving; phony; misleading.

   They’ve concocted a series of fraudulent pretexts for the invasion that collapse instantly on examination.

   Synonyms:

   specious, sham, fallacious, illusory, deceptive, deceitful

---

fraudulent British  

/ ˈfrɔːdjʊlənt /

adjective

1. acting with or having the intent to deceive

2. 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

Now YouGov, which carried out the research, has told the Bible Society that an internal review of the data found that some of the respondents who completed its survey were "fraudulent".

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

The person I spoke to seemed to know who I was—possibly from caller ID—and appeared to have information about me and the fraudulent charge.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

If the money originally came from a compromised account, the rightful owner will eventually flag the transaction as fraudulent.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026

Rhonda says she has got back some of the fraudulent card payments – about £4,000.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026

She laughed and gave him a hug, which felt just as fraudulent.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss

Related Words

• counterfeit
• crooked
• deceitful
• dishonest
• fake
• forged
• phony
• sham