fraud

SayFRAWD/fɹɔd/UK/fɹɔːd/

Pluralfrauds (some meanings)

6 meanings of fraud

1
noununcountable
Getting money from someone by lying or tricking them, which is against the law.
Like cheating on a test, but with money: and the police get involved.
He committed fraud by lying about his income on the loan form.
Police arrested two people for tax fraud last week.
Similarscam, swindle, deceit, grift
Note
2
nouncountable or uncountable
A trick or lie used to get something in an unfair way.
Like cheating in a game to win a prize you didn't really earn.
Faking an illness to skip work is a kind of fraud.
The contest was full of fraud, with judges quietly picking their own friends.
Similarscam, swindle, hoax, con, deception
Note
3
nouncountable
A person who tricks others to cheat them out of money or trust.
Like someone wearing a mask to pretend they are kind and honest.
That so-called doctor was a fraud who never went to medical school.
People called him a fraud after his fake charity was exposed.
Similarfraudster, cheat, swindler, impostor, faker
4
nouncountable or uncountable
Pretending to be someone else in order to trick people.
Like wearing someone else's name tag to get into a place you shouldn't.
He used fraud to open bank accounts under a dead man's name.
Pretending to be a police officer is a serious fraud.
Similarimpersonation, imposture, deception

Less common meanings

5
nounobsoletecountable
A trap or snare set to catch someone or something.
to draw the proud King Ahab into fraud
1671, John Milton, “The First Book”Here, fraud means a trap set to catch someone.
Note
6
verbobsoletetransitive
To cheat someone out of money or property by lying to them.
Like a shopkeeper who gives you too little change on purpose to keep your money.
The merchant tried to fraud his partners out of their share.
They feared the steward would fraud the estate of its rents.
Note

Practice

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Origin

It comes from Latin "fraus," meaning deceit, through Old French and Middle English.