extortionary
- Adjective:
- Relating to extortion: "extortionary" describes actions, practices, or demands that involve or resemble extortion — the act of obtaining something, especially money, through force, threats, or undue pressure.
- Excessive or exploitative: It can also refer to something that is unfairly high or demanding, such as prices or fees that are considered exorbitant or predatory.
- (The rent hikes were unfairly high and exploitative.)
- (The tactics involved threats or coercion to gain an unfair advantage.)
- (The law was seen as unfairly burdensome and exploitative.)
"extortionary practices": commonly used in legal or business contexts to describe unethical or illegal methods of obtaining money.
- Regulators are investigating the bank for extortionary lending practices. (The bank's loan terms were considered coercive or predatory.)
"extortionary pricing": refers to prices set at an unjustifiably high level, often taking advantage of a monopoly or crisis.
- During the disaster, some stores were accused of extortionary pricing for basic supplies. (The prices were excessively high and exploitative.)
Extortionate (adj): a synonym meaning extremely high or excessive, often used interchangeably with "extortionary."
- The hotel charged extortionate rates for a simple room. (The rates were unreasonably high.)
Extortion (n): the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
- He was convicted of extortion for demanding payment under threat of violence. (He used threats to get money.)
Extortionist (n): a person who commits extortion.
- The extortionist was arrested after demanding a bribe. (The person who used threats for money.)
- Exorbitant: (of a price or amount) unreasonably high.
- Predatory: seeking to exploit others, often financially.
- Coercive: involving the use of force or threats to get something.
- Exploitative: taking unfair advantage of someone for personal gain.
"Highway robbery": an informal idiom meaning a price or charge that is unfairly high, similar to extortionary pricing.
- Paying $10 for a bottle of water during the storm felt like highway robbery. (The price was outrageously high and exploitative.)
"Price gouging": a term for charging excessively high prices, especially during emergencies, which is closely related to extortionary practices.
- The government passed laws to prevent price gouging after the hurricane. (Laws against extortionary pricing.)
- "Squeeze out": to force someone out of a business or situation through pressure, often extortionary.
- The larger company tried to squeeze out the small shop by lowering prices unfairly. (They used pressure to eliminate competition.)