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plagiarism

American  
[pley-juh-riz-uhm, -jee-uh-riz-] / ˈpleɪ dʒəˌrɪz əm, -dʒi əˌrɪz- /

noun

  1. 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

  2. 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.
plagiarism British  
/ ˈpleɪdʒəˌrɪzəm /

noun

  1. the act of plagiarizing

  2. something plagiarized

"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
plagiarism Cultural  

  1. Literary theft. Plagiarism occurs when a writer duplicates another writer's language or ideas and then calls the work his or her own. Copyright laws protect writers' words as their legal property. To avoid the charge of plagiarism, writers take care to credit those from whom they borrow and quote.

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Similar theft in music or other arts is also called plagiarism.

Other Word Forms

  • plagiarist noun
  • plagiaristic adjective

Etymology

Origin of plagiarism

First recorded in 1615–25; plagiar(y) + -ism

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.

In June 2025, Disney and Universal sued AI firm Midjourney over its image generator, which the Hollywood giants alleged was a "bottomless pit of plagiarism".

From BBC

The real author describes it as a combination of plagiarism and banality.

From BBC

Higher education institutions run essays through programmes such as Turnitin, which are designed to detect plagiarism and false authorship.

From BBC

Those rules include bans on plagiarism and cheating.

From Los Angeles Times

On hold: Apple has yanked the French-language thriller “The Hunt,” which was scheduled to premiere Dec. 3, amid allegations of plagiarism.

From MarketWatch

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.