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fraud

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fraud

  • /ˈfɹɔːd/ UK
  • [ˈfɹʷɔːd] UK
  • /ˈfɹoːd/ Australia, British, New Zealand
  • [ˈfɹʷoːd] Australia, British, New Zealand
  • /ˈfɹɔd/ US
  • [ˈfɹʷɔd] US
  • /ˈfɹɑd/ US, cot caught merger
  • [ˈfɹʷɑd] US, cot caught merger
  • /ˈfɹɒd/ US, cot caught merger
  • [ˈfɹʷɒd] US, cot caught merger
  • /ˈfɹɔd/ Scotland
  • [ˈfɹɔd] Scotland
  • /ˈfɾɔd/ Scotland
  • [ˈfɾɔd] Scotland
  • /ˈfɾɔːd/ Wales
  • [ˈfɾɔːd] Wales

Rhymes with -ɔːd

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English fraude (recorded since 1345), from Old French fraude, a borrowing from Latin fraus (“deceit, injury, offence”).

noun frauds

  1. countable, uncountable The crime of stealing or otherwise illegally obtaining money by use of deception tactics.

    Similar: swindle, scam, deceit, grift

  2. countable, uncountable Any act of deception carried out for the purpose of unfair, undeserved or unlawful gain. When success a lover's toil attends, / Few ask, if fraud or force attain'd his ends.

    Similar: fiddle

  3. countable, uncountable The assumption of a false identity to such deceptive end.
  4. countable, uncountable A person who performs any such trick.

    Similar: faker, fraudster, imposter, trickster, bamboozler, bouncer, bullshitter, cheat, cheater, cogger, cony-catcher, crammer

  5. countable, obsolete, uncountable A trap or snare. to draw the proud King Ahab into fraud

verb frauds · frauding · frauded

  1. obsolete, transitive To defraud.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: fraudulence, imposter, impostor, faker, hoax, dupery, put-on, sham, fake, pretender, pseud, pseudo, role player, misappropriation, embezzlement, forger

Translations

Every language

noun act of deception

Españolfraude, dolo, trafa
한국어사기 sagi
日本語詐欺 sagi
中文騙局 /骗局 piànjú, 詐騙 /诈骗 zhàpiàn, 詐欺 /诈欺 zhàqī
हिन्दीधोखा dhokhā, छल chal, झाँसा jhā̃sā
Kiswahilighashi, sakata
Portuguêsfraude, falcatrua, logro, estelionato
Françaisfraude
DeutschBetrug, Schwindel
Italianofrode, frodi, baratteria
Ελληνικάαπάτη apáti
Românăînșelăciune
Русскиймоше́нничество mošénničestvo, жу́льничество žúlʹničestvo, афе́ра aféra, шу́лерство šúlerstvo
Tiếng Việtsự gian lận, sự gian trá, sự lừa lọc
العربيةغِشّ ḡišš, اِحْتِيال iḥtiyāl, تَزْوِير tazwīr
עבריתרַמָּאוּת ramaút

noun assumption of a false identity to such deceptive end

中文騙局 /骗局 piànjú, 詐騙 /诈骗 zhàpiàn
Portuguêsfalsidade ideológica
DeutschHochstapelei

noun one who performs fraud

Españoldefraudador
日本語詐欺師 sagishi, ペテン師 petenshi
हिन्दीछलिया chaliyā
Portuguêsfraudador
Françaisimposteur, charlatan, fraudeur
DeutschBetrüger, Betrügerin, Hochstapler
Ελληνικάαπατεώνας apateónas
Русскиймоше́нник mošénnik, жу́лик žúlik, афери́ст aferíst, шу́лер šúler

verb defraud

Españolfraudar

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Cite this
MLA

"fraud." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/fraud. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

fraud. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/fraud

Chicago

"fraud." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/fraud.

BibTeX
@misc{fraud_2026,
  title = {fraud},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/fraud},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}