Meaning & use
blackmail
Last updated
The crime of demanding money or favors from someone under threat of exposing damaging information about them.
See it in a sentence
She refused to give in to his blackmail and reported him to the police.
The politician was accused of using old photographs to blackmail a rival.
A note on using this word
Can be used as both a noun (the crime itself) and a verb (to commit the act), as in 'to blackmail someone.'
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Another way to use it
2. verb
To demand money or favors from someone under threat of exposing damaging information about them.
He tried to blackmail his former business partner into silence.
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