plagiarism
Americannoun
-
plagiarisms
plural
-
an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author.
It is said that he plagiarized Thoreau's plagiarism of a line written by Montaigne.
- Synonyms:
- cribbing, borrowing, theft, piracy, infringement, appropriation
-
a piece of writing or other work reflecting such unauthorized use or imitation.
“These two manuscripts are clearly plagiarisms,” the editor said, tossing them angrily on the floor.
noun
-
the act of plagiarizing
-
something plagiarized
Discover More
Similar theft in music or other arts is also called plagiarism.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of plagiarism
First recorded in 1615–25; plagiar(y) + -ism
Explanation
When you rip off someone else's ideas or work and pretend it's your own, that's plagiarism. There's a fine line between borrowing and stealing — between plagiarism and theft — and it's often open to debate what actually constitutes an outright taking of someone's material. As Einstein once said, "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." From the Latin word for "kidnapped," when you plagiarize, you are being an intellectual thief, kidnapping someone else's ideas or words for your own purposes.
Vocabulary lists containing plagiarism
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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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:
An inquest has begun into the death of Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor at the centre of a plagiarism row.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Today, accusations of plagiarism have become a potent way to undermine someone’s credibility.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
In Europe, groups of scholars have banded together to investigate allegations of plagiarism.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Nathan Cofnas published a Substack post alleging plagiarism and fraud against Jason Arday, a former University of Cambridge professor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Nowadays, we would call this plagiarism, but that would be entirely to miss the point.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
That a lot of these supposed plagiarisms were things in speeches, or I guess also in books.
From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2013
I doubt that a single person could track down all the plagiarisms in QR Markham's spy novel Assassin of Secrets; but a group certainly could and did, and with remarkable speed.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 3, 2012
Dickens' novels are hardly less theatrical, as his contemporaries realized to their quick profit: several stage plagiarisms of Nicholas Nickleby were on the London boards before the novel's serial publication was complete.
From Time Magazine Archive
Mrs. Sheridan, who has read the book, finds it a display of sentimentality, abounding in super-adjectives, containing many plagiarisms, "the outpourings of a gushing school girl."
From Time Magazine Archive
He only acted like other Greek writers of his time, and if his plagiarisms exceeded theirs it was only because he had read more and made a more diligent use of his note-book.
From The Egypt of the Hebrews and Herodotos by A. H. (Archibald Henry) Sayce
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.
