blackmail
Americannoun
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any payment extorted by intimidation, as by threats of injurious revelations or accusations.
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the extortion of such payment.
He confessed rather than suffer the dishonor of blackmail.
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a tribute formerly exacted in the north of England and in Scotland by freebooting chiefs for protection from pillage.
verb (used with object)
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to extort money from (a person) by the use of threats.
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to force or coerce into a particular action, statement, etc..
The strikers claimed they were blackmailed into signing the new contract.
noun
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the act of attempting to obtain money by intimidation, as by threats to disclose discreditable information
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the exertion of pressure or threats, esp unfairly, in an attempt to influence someone's actions
verb
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to exact or attempt to exact (money or anything of value) from (a person) by threats or intimidation; extort
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to attempt to influence the actions of (a person), esp by unfair pressure or threats
Usage
What does blackmail mean? Blackmail is the act of attempting to force someone to do something or give up something valuable by threatening negative consequences if they don’t, especially revealing negative information about them. Blackmail can also be used as a verb meaning to do such a thing. Less commonly, blackmail can refer specifically to a payment made due to threats or coercion. Perhaps the most common blackmail scenario is forcing someone to pay money in order to avoid having a negative secret revealed about them. Blackmail is a serious crime, but sometimes the word is applied to less serious situations. For example, making your sibling do your chores so you don’t tattle on them to your parents for something they did is definitely blackmail. Example: My life is an open book, so you have nothing to blackmail me with—everyone already knows all my secrets!
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blackmailsimple
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blackmailssimple
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have blackmailedperfect
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has blackmailedperfect
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am blackmailingprogressive
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are blackmailingprogressive
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is blackmailingprogressive
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have been blackmailingperfect progressive
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has been blackmailingperfect progressive
Past
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blackmailedsimple
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had blackmailedperfect
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was blackmailingprogressive
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were blackmailingprogressive
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had been blackmailingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blackmail
Explanation
To blackmail someone is to use secret information to get something from them, usually money. Blackmailing is a crime. Blackmail is a type of threat. For example, if a politician's assistant knew the politician was having an affair, the assistant could blackmail the politician by threatening to tell the press. Blackmailers usually want money in return for keeping something a secret, but an employee with dirt on a boss could blackmail the boss to get a promotion. Anyone making threats and demands in return for keeping a secret is engaged in blackmail.
Vocabulary lists containing blackmail
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Flush
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Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
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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.
See Examples For:
When it is tied to "an unparalleled moral eminence", he wrote, a fast unto death "amounts to blackmail".
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
This exemplary service failed to account for her disturbingly poor judgment, risking blackmail and conflict-of-interest allegations, since the Atlanta Police Department appears before her court; nor her lack of candor to the court.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2026
In a brief statement to the press before surrendering to police at the senate premises, Estrada described the charges as part of an attempt to blackmail him.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
I read a description of the series that summed things up like this: A divorced mom gets caught up in a perilous web of blackmail, murder and youth soccer.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Three times Sammy drove past the water tower on St. Catherine’s Island to make sure that no one was lying in wait to apprehend the author of the blackmail note.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
For Nate, a bid at redemption comes not from his mother but from Jade, who blackmails the A Taste of Athens manager, Derek into firing him.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2023
Persistent, and desperate, Cassie blackmails her for the spot saying she knows that Carol sells "buddy passes" and that everyone calls her "black market Carol" because of it.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2022
Though she has been filled with the spirit of the turtle, she has not lost the instincts of a shark and blackmails her way back into work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2022
Kiki’s former spymaster, the shadowy Dr. Fox, persuades — well, blackmails — her into working for him again, gathering intelligence on possible threats.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2021
Booth blackmails Atzerodt, saying belongings John Wilkes Booth took with he left his hotel room on April 14, 1865. he’s in too deep to back out.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Rogers’s undoing began with a string of emails and an alarming realization: He was being blackmailed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Worse, the patients were the ones feeling emotionally blackmailed into donating money.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Raising her voice, the former minister said: "I do not react well to being blackmailed."
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026
“We have never blackmailed anyone,” the post said.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2026
“You’re telling me that Dusty Muleman blackmailed the government’s lawyers?”
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
Epstein conspiracists go way beyond this, however, insisting there’s a “client list” Epstein kept with detailed notes about who he was blackmailing and for what.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2025
“Kompromat” comes from a Russian word denoting damaging and compromising information collected for use in blackmailing, discrediting or manipulating someone, often for political ends.
From Reuters ● Jul. 27, 2023
“What We Do Next” is a three-person chamber drama that takes the scheming and blackmailing of political thrillers like “House of Cards” and shapes them into something like a morality play.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
Gio Reyna’s parents reported Gregg Berhalter’s 31-year-old altercation involving his future wife but deny blackmailing the coach who did not play their son.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2023
My mom was essentially blackmailing me into being a good feminist and following my heart.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
