as in to threaten
to use blackmail against (someone)
The old man was being blackmailed by his nephew.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blackmail
Verb
-
Diddy's former assistant George Kaplan says rapper threatened his job 'monthly' Kaplan, who worked as Combs' executive assistant from 2014-2015, testified on May 21 that the rapper threatened his job on an almost monthly basis.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
23 May 2025 -
Netanyahu put all of his chips on Trump nonetheless—a wager that now threatens to cost the Israeli prime minister the remnants of his legacy.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
22 May 2025
Verb
-
Martinez’s son squeezed the trigger five times, shooting Rivera to death and wounding two others, the detective wrote in the affidavit.—
Matthew Ormseth,
Los Angeles Times,
24 May 2025
-
Umberto Rispoli squeezed between horses around the top of the stretch and then rode Journalism to a tremendous rally.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
24 May 2025
Verb
-
Do not drive around barricades or through water of unknown depth.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
26 May 2025
-
The franchise has driven over half a billion hours of streams, with the original accounting for more than 280 hours.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
26 May 2025
Verb
-
Lane then allegedly extorted the companies for ransoms.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
20 May 2025
-
In addition, the hackers even tried to extort Coinbase itself, demanding a $20 million payment from the cryptocurrency company to cover up the incident.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
15 May 2025
Verb
-
While the playable formula saw a tangible evolution outside of the 'branching narrative' sections, the three new protagonists (Anu, Octavio, and Fran) failed to impress fans.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
22 May 2025
-
We were impressed by how easily coffee and oil released completely, and the foundation stain faded by about 60%.—
Carrie Honaker,
Southern Living,
22 May 2025
Verb
-
The alleged kidnappers shocked the victim with electric wires, held him upside down from the top of a staircase, cut his leg with a saw and threatened to kill his family in a bid to coerce their Italian hostage to unlock his Bitcoin account, prosecutors said.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
30 May 2025
-
Swat is coerced into taking on the role or finally getting legal comeuppances for all of his misdeeds and ends up taking on solving the mystery of a series of disappearances plaguing Echo city.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
29 May 2025
Verb
-
The prospect of a New York team with an identity forged from refusing to yield under pressure forcing an anxiety-inducing Game 7 at Madison Square Garden looms large.—
Bobby Krivitsky,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
-
My biggest soccer loves will forever be Club América and Liga MX, but Vela forced me to make some room in my heart for the black and gold.—
Fidel Martinez,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Blackmail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blackmail. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share