embezzle
verb
Did you know?
English is full of verbs that mean “to steal” (such as pilfer, rob, swipe, plunder, filch, and thieve). But when it comes to stealing property (and in this context, money is a kind of property) that has been entrusted to you, embezzle wins the prize. The word most often refers to theft of company or government funds that one has charge of, and embezzlement is therefore a hallmark of white-collar crime—that is, crime committed by so-called “white-collar” workers. In the 15th century, around the time that embezzlement entered English (the ultimate root is Anglo-French besiller “to steal, plunder”), it would have also been possible to say that such plunderers “bezzled” company cash, but bezzle is now considered obsolete.
Examples of embezzle in a Sentence
Julia Marnin, Sacramento Bee, 9 Apr. 2024
Of course, the scammers had simply embezzled the money.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Jorge Armando Contreras, 53, of Yorba Linda, pleaded guilty to embezzling from the district — which serves students in Anaheim and Stanton —from August 2016 through July of last year.
—City News Service, Orange County Register, 28 Mar. 2024
In 1994, the owner had embezzled more than $500,000 from the cemetery endowment fund and bought himself a Mercedes, which was not of much use in prison, where he was sent for the crime.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024
My Lan is facing a possible death penalty for allegedly embezzling $12.5 billion.
—Elaine Kurtenbach, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024
Then Gibson reached out again during the court trial for Michael Avenatti, Daniels’s attorney who was convicted in 2022 of embezzling from her and who is now serving 19 years in prison for his crimes against Daniels and others.
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2024
According to The New York Times, Selena and her family accused Saldívar of embezzling money from the singer's businesses during a meeting on March 2, 1995.
—Jacqueline Weiss, Peoplemag, 17 Feb. 2024
He had been charged by Prosecuting Attorney Alex Streett of Russellville with embezzling $295,040 in county funds on 98 separate charges.
—arkansasonline.com, 12 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'embezzle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to embezzle
Dictionary Entries Near embezzle
Cite this Entry
“Embezzle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/embezzle. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
embezzle
verb
Legal Definition
embezzle
transitive verb
Anglo-French embeseiller to make away with, from en-, prefix stressing completion + beseller to snatch, misappropriate, from Old French, to destroy
Share