cheat

[cheet]

verb (used with object)

1. to defraud; swindle.

   He cheated her out of her inheritance.

   Synonyms: fool, hoax, con, gull, delude, dupe, mislead

2. to deceive; influence by fraud.

   He cheated us into believing him a hero.

3. to elude; deprive of something expected.

   He cheated the law by suicide.

verb (used without object)

1. to practice fraud or deceit.

   She cheats without regrets.

2. to violate rules or regulations.

   He cheats at cards.

3. to take an examination or test in a dishonest way, as by improper access to answers.

4. Informal.,  to be sexually unfaithful (often followed byon ).

   Her husband knew she had been cheating all along. He cheated on his wife.

noun

1. a person who acts dishonestly, deceives, or defrauds.

   He is a cheat and a liar.

   Synonyms: mountebank, phony, fake, fraud, charlatan, dodger, sharper, trickster, swindler

2. a fraud; swindle; deception.

   The game was a cheat.

   Synonyms: hoax, trick, artifice, imposture

3. Law.,  the fraudulent obtaining of another's property by a pretense or trick.

4. an impostor.

   The man who passed as an earl was a cheat.

cheat

/ tʃiːt /

verb

1. to deceive or practise deceit, esp for one's own gain; trick or swindle (someone)

2. (intr) to obtain unfair advantage by trickery, as in a game of cards

3. (tr) to escape or avoid (something unpleasant) by luck or cunning

   to cheat death

4. informal,  to be sexually unfaithful to (one's wife, husband, or lover)

noun

1. a person who cheats

2. a deliberately dishonest transaction, esp for gain; fraud

3. informal,  sham

4. law the obtaining of another's property by fraudulent means

5. the usual US name for rye-brome

Other Word Forms

• cheatable adjective
• cheatingly adverb
• cheater noun
• outcheat verb (used with object)
• uncheated adjective
• uncheating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheat¹

1325–75; Middle English chet (noun) (aphetic for achet, variant of eschet escheat ); cheten to escheat, derivative of chet (noun)

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheat¹

C14: short for _escheat

Synonym Study

Cheat, deceive, trick, victimize refer to the use of fraud or artifice deliberately to hoodwink or obtain an unfair advantage over someone. Cheat implies conducting matters fraudulently, especially for profit to oneself: to cheat at cards. Deceive suggests deliberately misleading or deluding, to produce misunderstanding or to prevent someone from knowing the truth: to deceive one's parents. To trick is to deceive by a stratagem, often of a petty, crafty, or dishonorable kind: to trick someone into signing a note. To victimize is to make a victim of; the emotional connotation makes the cheating, deception, or trickery seem particularly dastardly: to victimize a blind man.

Example Sentences

“Just kind of lost on that thing, and if anyone knows me, knows I’m never going to cheat or anything like that.”

From Los Angeles Times

Vashi has cheated investors, staff and the taxman, but the search party is surprisingly small.

From BBC

Women should not have to settle for men who cheat on them, or abandon, abuse or exploit them in unequal relationships.

From Salon

Aguilar thinks often of young, inexperienced artists who didn’t have the privilege of being in a family of savvy entertainers — those who run the biggest risk of getting cheated out of royalties.

From Los Angeles Times

Local news that would darken his doorstep: He knew people involved in the USC cheating scandal.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bilk 
• con 
• deceive 
• defraud 
• delude 
• dupe 
• fleece 
• hoodwink 
• mislead 
• swindle 
• trick 
• victimize