as in lured
to influence someone with a bribe
meat inspectors were bribed, and the contaminated beef was sold to the public
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Recent Examples of bribed
Prosecutors allege that developers bribed officials to expedite building permits and approve projects.
—
Scott M. Reid, Oc Register, 30 Jan. 2026
Some kids run at the sound of running water in the bathtub; others need to be bribed just to look at a vegetable.
—Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 16 Jan. 2026
College basketball players were bribed to throw games and enrich sports gamblers during a recent period from September 2022 to February of last year.
—Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 16 Jan. 2026
Either that or the wrong people had been bribed.
—Literary Hub, 12 Jan. 2026
Allegations that Tran bribed a witness have jeopardized a series of murder cases in Oakland, led several high-ranking police leaders to be disciplined and leveled a blow to OPD’s timeline for exiting oversight.
—Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 25 Nov. 2025
Members of Congress were bribed.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 23 Nov. 2025
Seemingly unstoppable, only one person stands in his way — a tenacious prosecutor, Jang Geon-young (played by Jung) who can’t be bought or bribed.
—Sara Merican, Deadline, 12 Nov. 2025
Esformes even bribed the basketball coach at the University of Pennsylvania to classify his son as a scholarship athlete, according to a trial witness.
—Kevin G. Hall, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
Scott M. Reid, Oc Register, 30 Jan. 2026
Some kids run at the sound of running water in the bathtub; others need to be bribed just to look at a vegetable.
—Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 16 Jan. 2026
College basketball players were bribed to throw games and enrich sports gamblers during a recent period from September 2022 to February of last year.
—Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 16 Jan. 2026
Either that or the wrong people had been bribed.
—Literary Hub, 12 Jan. 2026
Allegations that Tran bribed a witness have jeopardized a series of murder cases in Oakland, led several high-ranking police leaders to be disciplined and leveled a blow to OPD’s timeline for exiting oversight.
—Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 25 Nov. 2025
Members of Congress were bribed.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 23 Nov. 2025
Seemingly unstoppable, only one person stands in his way — a tenacious prosecutor, Jang Geon-young (played by Jung) who can’t be bought or bribed.
—Sara Merican, Deadline, 12 Nov. 2025
Esformes even bribed the basketball coach at the University of Pennsylvania to classify his son as a scholarship athlete, according to a trial witness.
—Kevin G. Hall, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bribed
Verb
-
As the minutes tick away to the campaign deadline, however, chatter has grown that he could be lured back into the race.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Current and former gang members have long come to Homeboy Industries to get their lives back on track, in part lured by their trust in Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest who founded the nonprofit nearly 40 years ago.—
Andrew Khouri,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Pine seduced Roper away from Corky [Roper’s fixer, played by Tom Hollander, who was killed off in season one].—
Max Gao,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Since the dawn of time, the romance of railways has seduced poets, spellbound novelists, and dealt directors the perfect hand for capturing fleeting friendships, illicit affairs, and all manner of crimes and capers.—
Arati Menon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
While the Super Bowl ad is for Cadillac F1, Apple is poised to be just as big a beneficiary, if viewers are enticed to check it out.—
Alex Weprin,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Feb. 2026
-
That was the appetizer, as a year later, in 2022, Pitaro enticed Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from Fox — arguably the top NFL combo on air — on a pair of five-year deals for $75 million and $90 million, respectively.—
Andrew Marchand,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Stephanie Martin, a breakfast station cook at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center, was persuaded to participate by Brian Reese, the resort’s sous chef and last year’s people’s choice winner.—
Miguel Otárola,
Denver Post,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Authoritative, sonorous and compelling, his is the voice that persuaded millions that the Martians had landed in Grover’s Mills, New Jersey in The War of the Worlds.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Popular LLMs lean left, and as the technology reaches more classrooms, companies, regulators, and legislators will be tempted to entrench that bias.—
Jonah Davids,
Washington Post,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Lies feeling personally victimized yet weirdly tempted to rewatch the mess all over again!—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Last year, though, the Anthropic team inadvertently poisoned its own well by allowing the Jones Foods experiment, in which Claude faked its way through retraining, into the data set.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Spanish was the primary language for more than 60% of people poisoned, according to the health department.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Freshman guard Meleek Thomas added 20 points and had three steals.—
Matt Byrne,
Arkansas Online,
11 Feb. 2026
-
All were known to have had ties to Epstein, but the new files have provided more details on their relationships and dealings with the late money manager.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
American culture will not be mocked or corrupted without consequence.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Feb. 2026
-
When the media are corrupted and play with the truth regarding political and ideological agendas, democracy dies.—
Marta Balaga,
Variety,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bribed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bribed. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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