rort
/ɹɔː(ɹ)t/
rort noun: a scam or fraud, especially involving the misappropriation of public money or resources.
Noun
rort (plural rorts)
- A scam or fraud, especially involving the misappropriation of public money or resources.
- Not all of the projects were bad or rorts; the majority were no doubt valuable to their communities.2008, Australian House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), page 4067
- It′s one of the great rorts in Australia that for overstaying your welcome (even by five minutes) in a space that may cost only a few dollars to park in, local councils are prepared to fine you anywhere from $50 to $120.2009, Justine Vaisutis, Australia, Lonely Planet, page 81
Verb
rort (third-person singular simple present rorts, present participle rorting, simple past and past participle rorted)
- To cheat or defraud.
- He wants to change the system for the benefit of all and wants to stop the incredible rorting that has occurred within the prisons system.1992, Victorian Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), page 496
- SINGLE pensioners living together will come under scrutiny from Centrelink looking for same-sex couples rorting welfare.2009 January 30, Ben Packham, “Same-sex couples accused of cheating system”, in Herald Sun, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2009
Examples of rort in a sentence
- The rort was that South Australia and Western Australia, who controlled their grounds, were allowed to double-dip.2011, Malcolm Knox, Greg Chappell, Fierce Focus, unnumbered page:
- York is then alleged to have rorted the doctor out of his share.2011, James Morton, Susanna Lobez, Kings of Stings: The Greatest Swindles From Down Under, page 118:
Forms of rort
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | rorts |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | rorts |
| present participle | rorting |
| past participle | rorted |
| past | rorted |
Origin of rort
Probably a back-formation from rorty (“boisterous or rowdy, saucy, dissipated, or risqué”). Originally slang but now in common usage.
Words that rhyme with rort
44 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- export
- mort
- assort
- escort
- fort
- quart
- resort
- retort
- thwart
- wart
- cavort
- comport
- detort
- distort
- extort
- swart
- transport
- apport
- come short
- consort
- contort
- desport
- ort
- purport
- reimport
- tort
- accourt
- aport
- asnort
- asport
- bort
- coreport
- Crown Court
- dort
- exhort
- Isle aux Morts
- kangaroo court
- misreport
- reexport
- rereport
- skort
- spoilsport
- torte
- worrywart
Questions about rort
- What does rort mean?
- Rort means a scam or fraud, especially involving the misappropriation of public money or resources.
- How do you use rort in a sentence?
- The rort was that South Australia and Western Australia, who controlled their grounds, were allowed to double-dip.
- What part of speech is rort?
- Rort can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce rort?
- Rort is pronounced /ɹɔː(ɹ)t/.
- What is the plural of rort?
- The plural of rort is rorts.
Words near rort in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rort (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-rort.ogg.
Cite this entry: “rort.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rort. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.