embezzlement
/im'bezlmənt/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- The fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else: A specific type of financial crime where a person who is trusted to manage or hold assets (like money or property) illegally takes them for their own use.
Examples of Usage
- Noun:
- The accountant was convicted of embezzlement after stealing from the company's accounts.
- Embezzlement of public funds is a serious offense that can lead to imprisonment.
Advanced Usage
- "to be guilty of embezzlement": to have committed the crime of taking entrusted funds.
- The treasurer was found guilty of embezzlement.
- "embezzlement scheme": a planned method for fraudulently taking entrusted money.
- The elaborate embezzlement scheme went undetected for years.
Variants and Related Words
- Embezzle (verb): to steal money or property that has been entrusted to one's care.
- He was accused of trying to embezzle client funds.
- Embezzler (noun): a person who commits embezzlement.
- The embezzler was ordered to repay all the stolen money.
Synonyms
- Misappropriation: The dishonest or unauthorized use of funds, often used interchangeably with embezzlement in legal contexts.
- Defalcation: A formal term, often used in legal or financial settings, for the misappropriation of funds by a person entrusted with them.
- Peculation: The theft or misappropriation of public funds, especially by a public official.
Related Phrases
- Corporate embezzlement: Embezzlement that occurs within a business or corporation.
- The scandal involved high-level corporate embezzlement.
- Embezzlement of assets: A broader term specifying the theft of property or valuables, not just cash.
- The investigation uncovered an embezzlement of assets from the estate.
Related Idioms
- "To cook the books": To falsify financial records, which is often a method used to conceal embezzlement.
- He was not only embezzling but also cooking the books to hide his tracks.
- "To have one's hand in the till": To steal money from the place where one works, similar to embezzlement in a retail or cash-handling context.
- The manager was caught with his hand in the till.
Noun
- the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else