trumped-up

[truhmpt-uhp]

adjective

1. spuriously devised; fraudulent; fabricated.

   He was arrested on some trumped-up charge.

Word History and Origins

Origin of trumped-up¹

1720–30; special use of trump ¹; -ed ²

Example Sentences

At the time of his death he had been in jail for three years on trumped-up charges and had recently been transferred to a penal colony in the Arctic Circle.

From BBC

He ended up in prison in Thailand, on what he insists were trumped-up fraud charges.

From BBC

Mark Li, 60, had been held in China since September 2016 on what activists say were trumped-up spying charges.

From BBC

“So now we are very sensitive to American customers, your American government always likes to make some trumped-up charges to sanction us.”

From Los Angeles Times

“This is a trumped-up charge. I sympathise with her very much.”

From BBC