as in cheat
a dishonest person who uses clever means to cheat others out of something of value
people who lost money in the scheme discovered that the investment company was a fake and the "owner" just a bilk
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to cheat
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
an investigation revealed that the garage had been bilking motorists for repairs that had never been made
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of bilk
Yvonne Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 17 May 2018
Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 22 May 2025
From those schools, 10 teachers were bilked out of roughly $7,000 in credit card charges, Ware said.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for bilk
Noun
And, despite its super hinky backstory, a bronze behemoth of bilk is taking shape in Everett.
—Yvonne Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 17 May 2018
Verb
One deepfake scam bilked Arup, a British design and engineering company that worked on the Sydney Opera House and Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium, out of $25 million last year.
—Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 22 May 2025
From those schools, 10 teachers were bilked out of roughly $7,000 in credit card charges, Ware said.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for bilk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bilk
Noun
-
Which is why when Lowe − an avid follower of the low-carb Atkins diet for decades and the diet's brand spokesperson since 2018 − has an occasional cheat day, all bets are off.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
13 June 2025
-
While individual tax cheats obviously benefit from a weak IRS, no stakeholder has more to gain than the large California tech giant Intuit Inc.—
Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
31 May 2025
Verb
-
In some towns, utility poles were removed so the caravans could squeeze through.—
Angela Jackson,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
-
Hundreds of people squeezed into the Jewish Community Center in Boulder, Colo., for a vigil that featured prayer, singing and emotional testimony from a victim and witnesses of the firebombing attack in the city’s downtown, after a federal judge blocked the deportation of the suspect’s family.—
Colleen Slevin,
Los Angeles Times,
5 June 2025
Noun
-
Try, try again Speaking of classes, the eight options here tend to fall into the usual archetypes for this kind of action-adventure game: the tank, the mage, the defensive specialist, the dextrous dodger, etc.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
28 May 2025
-
The layoffs of roughly 7,000 Internal Revenue Service probationary workers beginning this week probably mean the end of the agency’s plan to go after high-wealth tax dodgers and could spell disaster for revenue collection, experts say.—
Fatima Hussein,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
And yet, it’s still rooted in something real, because Perry plucked much of the heavy-handed dialog Keery delivers verbatim from the Wowee Zowee press kit, contemporaneous Malkmus interviews, and things Malkmus told Perry himself.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
4 June 2025
-
The eggs, of course, are plucked from the hen house each morning.—
Matthew Monagan,
Travel + Leisure,
3 June 2025
Verb
-
Night shift in a teeming academic hospital can feel like a relentlessly heaving freighter, and I’d been hustling from ward to ward bailing water; this task was just another on my scut list.—
Danielle Ofri,
New Yorker,
7 June 2025
-
There are a lot of risks doing that, but if someone wants to go all in and hustle for success, this can be a good option.—
Joseph Drups,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Verb
-
Rough as that was, a fielding mistake may have stung worse.—
Compiled From Wire Reports,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 June 2025
-
According to news stories, Macron was stung by the report’s lukewarm reception in Algeria.—
Lauren Collins,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
Verb
-
All were unlikely beneficiaries this week of pardons, with President Donald Trump flexing his executive power to bestow clemency on political allies, prominent public figures and others convicted of defrauding the public.—
Eric Tucker,
Chicago Tribune,
30 May 2025
-
In June 2022, Todd and Julie Chrisley, who portrayed themselves as real estate tycoons in the South on their USA Network shows, were found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks in Atlanta out of more than $36 million in fraudulent loans, defraud the IRS and commit tax evasion.—
Jay Stahl,
USA Today,
28 May 2025
Verb
-
Even children who are online only in small doses likely see false or inaccurate information that might deceive them.—
Evan Orticio,
Scientific American,
2 June 2025
-
In November, Dove pleaded guilty in Gaston County to a dozen felony charges related to illegally accessing police computer systems and helping someone deceive a polygraph test, The Gaston Gazette reported.—
Julia Coin,
Charlotte Observer,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bilk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bilk. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share