extorted

verb

past tense of extort
as in exacted
to get (as money) by the use of force or threats a school bully who was used to extorting lunch money from weaker kids

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 extorted The police chief allegedly extorted the victim and the victim’s father in connection with the pending murder case. — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026 The necessity of it to my defence against a more heinous charge could alone have extorted from me so painful an indecorum. — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 June 2026 Richards attained fame as a pioneering male supermodel in major ad campaigns by the likes of Bruce Weber, Richard Avedon, and Helmut Newton, but all along he was being extorted and exploited by Mierers and his followers to bolster (and bankroll) their shaky, pseudoscientific philosophy. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 16 June 2026 Cutaia, who has a criminal record dating back to the 1990s, extorted two businessmen starting in 2023 — even before his release from federal prison at the end of his 15-year sentence. — John Annese, New York Daily News, 15 June 2026 But Ancel Glink representatives said Odelson, Murphey, Frazier and McGrath overstepped by petitioning to represent Calumet City in both a labor dispute and a lawsuit where a former employee claims Jones extorted him and wrongfully terminated his employment. — Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2026 To dispose of his body, the group allegedly used a familiar method, placing it in a crematorium furnace in a local funeral home whose owner was being extorted by another Hells Angels member. — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026 Kraken, one of the world’s oldest crypto exchanges, said it’s being extorted by a criminal group that claims to have access to some client account information. — Olga Kharif, Bloomberg, 13 Apr. 2026 At least three organizations have been extorted and suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages after proprietary information was posted online by IT workers. — Lisa Cavazuti, NBC news, 15 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extorted
  1. exacted
  2. coerced
  3. squeezed
  4. wrung
  5. wrested
  6. forced
  7. fleeced
Verb
  • As chief of acute care surgery, Firas Madbak sees firsthand the toll exacted by guns.
    — Yona Gavino, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The story exemplifies Bandyopadhyay’s method of locating the partition’s violence beyond the riots, in the economic destitution that followed and what that destitution exacted from women.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026
Definition of exacted
Verb
  • The inspection followed a hunger strike by detainees, who in a letter, complained about rotten or worm-infested food, medical neglect, and being coerced into signing deportation orders.
    — Vanessa Romo, NPR, 20 Aug. 2026
  • In 1963, the Supreme Court banned confessions given under scopolamine and other truth-inducers as unconstitutionally coerced.
    — Mattha Busby, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of coerced
Verb
  • Breakfast is at Fritz & Felix, lunch is squeezed into the Wintergarten conservatory, and dinner is either ordered to my room or eaten dressed up in the restaurants.
    — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Consumers show signs of strain Recent data indicate that some consumers' budgets are being squeezed.
    — Lorie Konish, CNBC, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of squeezed
Verb
  • When cleaning wood or stone, use it barely damp and well wrung, with a pH-neutral cleaner.
    — Louise Parks, Martha Stewart, 17 Aug. 2026
  • On the other hand, detective Paul Johnson, who wrung out false confessions from the four boys, never expresses any remorse.
    — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of wrung
Verb
  • Another unidentified witness saw the struggle and wrested the knife from Rivas, according to police.
    — David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 3 Aug. 2026
  • In this case, the production company Embassy Pictures wrested control of Crimewave away from Raimi after a challenging shoot, leading the director to disavow the film.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2026
Definition of wrested
Verb
  • As more cars wrecked behind the incident, NASCAR was forced to throw the caution flag — freezing the field with Preece in front.
    — Jeff Gluck, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Sometimes, operators were forced to drain one pond and divert its water to save fish in another, the Hungarian Aquaculture and Fisheries Inter-branch Organization said in early August.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of forced
Verb
  • As an example of money wasted by LAHSA’s lack of financial controls, Turner cited the recent federal indictment alleging a homeless services provider fleeced the system of $23 million in fraudulent billings.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Some television-repair programs, for example, offered free TV sets to get veterans in the door and then fleeced VA for their tuition.
    — Andrew Ba Tran, Washington Post, 22 July 2026
Definition of fleeced

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Cite this Entry

“Extorted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extorted. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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