embezzle
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- embezzlement noun
- embezzler noun
- nonembezzlement noun
- unembezzled adjective
Etymology
Origin of embezzle
1375–1425; late Middle English embesilen < Anglo-French embeseiller to destroy, make away with, equivalent to em- em- 1 + beseiller, Old French beseiller to destroy < ?
Explanation
When a person embezzles, it usually means that he is stealing money from his employer. If he is caught embezzling, it probably also means that he will soon be unemployed. The word embezzle implies more than simply "to steal." When a person embezzles, he or she takes advantage of an employer's trust for personal gain. Embezzling is a so-called "white-collar crime" which often involves some sort of cover-up, like falsifying financial records or stealing small amounts of money over a long period of time. The word embezzle comes from an Old French word meaning "maltreat or ravage," besillier, and an embezzler can be said to ravage someone else's money.
Vocabulary lists containing embezzle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The wife of Ali Bongo, whose family ruled the central African country with an iron fist for 55 years, had been accused of manipulating her husband to embezzle taxpayers' money.
From Barron's • Nov. 12, 2025
She has denied wrongdoing, and party spokesman Laurent Jacobelli said "we are going to prove that there is no system to embezzle money from the EU".
From BBC • Sep. 30, 2024
Manuel Chang, the former minister, is suspected of signing off on about $2 billion worth of loans concealed from public view and partaking in a scheme to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars.
From New York Times • Jul. 12, 2023
On Tuesday, he tweeted: "UAW slogan – 'Fighting for the right to embezzle money from auto workers!'"
From Reuters • Mar. 29, 2022
By letter, persons have been introduced into circles where they had no footing, posts for whose responsibilities they were utterly unfit, and trusts whose funds they showed more faculty to embezzle than apply.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 74, December, 1863 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
