blackmail

noun/ˈblækmeɪl/

Frequency rank: #8,180 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

the act of demanding money or favors from someone by threatening to reveal damaging information about them.

Illustration for the English word “blackmail”

Example sentence

The corrupt politician paid millions to stop the blackmail scheme against him from becoming public.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 8,101–8,200