Meaning & use
extortion
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountablelegal
The crime of forcing someone to hand over money or property by using threats or pressure.
Grammar: No plural: he was charged with extortion.
Patterns
- charged with extortion
- extortion of someone
The gang was accused of extortion after demanding payment from local shops.
He faced charges of extortion and blackmail.
Paying protection money is a form of extortion.
noununcountableinformalfigurative
A price or demand that is so unfairly high that it feels like being forced to pay.
Grammar: Used loosely and informally when a charge seems outrageous.
Patterns
- pure extortion
Charging ten dollars for a bottle of water is pure extortion.
The airline's baggage fees felt like extortion.
Common combinations
- charged with extortion
- The officer was charged with extortion.
- extortion racket
- Police broke up an extortion racket in the harbor.
- attempted extortion
- The man was arrested for attempted extortion.
- extortion and bribery
- The report exposed extortion and bribery in the agency.
- victim of extortion
- The shopkeeper was a victim of extortion.
Synonyms and how they differ
- blackmail
- Blackmail is a threat to reveal a secret unless paid, while extortion covers any threat, including violence.
- shakedown
- Shakedown is slang for pressuring someone to pay, and sounds more informal.
- racketeering
- Racketeering means organized, ongoing crime, whereas extortion can be a single act.
- robbery
- Robbery involves taking property by force at once, while extortion involves a demand for later payment.
Word family
- extort verb
- to obtain money by force or threats
- extortionist noun
- a person who commits extortion
- extortionate adjective
- much too high, as in a price
- extortioner noun
- a person who extorts, a rarer word
Commonly confused: extortion or extraction?
extortion vs extraction
Extraction means removing something, like a tooth, and is unrelated to threats.
Practice
The thieves demanded weekly payments from the café and threatened to smash its windows. This is a case of ____.
Choose one answer.
Extortion means getting money by threats. A donation is voluntary, so it cannot fit a demand backed by threats.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “extortion”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.