embezzle
UK/ɪmˈbɛz.əl//ɪmˈbɛz.əl/
embezzle verb: to steal or misappropriate money that one has been trusted with, especially to steal money from the organisation for which one works.
Verb
embezzle (third-person singular simple present embezzles, present participle embezzling, simple past and past participle embezzled)
- To steal or misappropriate money that one has been trusted with, especially to steal money from the organisation for which one works.
- You waste your education in burglary. You should do one of two things. Either you should forge or you should embezzle. For my own part, I embezzle.1903, H. G. Wells, “Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation”, in Twelve Stories and a Dream
- You let Dunsey have it, sir? And how long have you been so thick with Dunsey that you must collogue with him to embezzle my money?1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- defalcate, have one's hand in the till, misappropriate, peculate, skim
embezzle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
embezzle in Hindi
- to embezzle, swindle, misappropriate
- ग़बन करना ġaban karnā
- to embezzle
- घुटकना ghuṭaknā
embezzle in Tamil
- கையாடல் செய், தவறாகப் பயன்படுத்து
embezzle in Urdu
- to embezzle, steal
- ڈکارنا ḍakārnā
embezzle in Bengali
- আত্মসাৎ করা
More languagesFewer languages
- embezzle in Malayalam
- തിരിമറി നടത്തുക, പണാപഹരണം നടത്തുക, പണം അപഹരിക്കുക, വിശ്വസിച്ചേല്പിച്ച പണം അപഹരിക്കുക
- embezzle in Kannada
- ಸ್ವಂತಕ್ಕೆ ಬಳಸು, ಲಪಟಾಯಿಸು, ತಿಂದುಹಾಕು, ದುರುಪಯೋಗಿಸು
- embezzle in Arabic
- غَلَّ ḡalla, اِخْتَلَسَ iḵtalasa
- embezzle in Thai
- ยักยอก yák-yɔ̂ɔk
Synonyms of embezzle
Forms of embezzle
| third-person singular present | embezzles |
|---|---|
| present participle | embezzling |
| past participle | embezzled |
| past | embezzled |
Origin of embezzle
From Middle English embesilen, from Anglo-Norman embesiler, embesillier, embeseillier (“to steal, cause to disappear”), from em- + Old French besillier (“to torment, destroy, gouge”), of unknown origin.
Words formed from embezzle
Questions about embezzle
- What does embezzle mean?
- Embezzle means to steal or misappropriate money that one has been trusted with, especially to steal money from the organisation for which one works.
- What is embezzle in Hindi?
- Embezzle in Hindi is ग़बन करना (ġaban karnā), घुटकना (ghuṭaknā). See Embezzle meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is embezzle?
- Embezzle is a verb.
- How do you pronounce embezzle?
- Embezzle is pronounced /ɪmˈbɛz.əl/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of embezzle?
- The past tense of embezzle is embezzled.
Words near embezzle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: embezzle (page history and authors); ग़बन करना (Hindi) (page history and authors); embezzle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ڈکارنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); Embezzle (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); embezzle (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); embezzle (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-US embezzle.ogg.
Cite this entry: “embezzle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/embezzle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.