fraudulent

English

Etymology

From Middle English fraudulent, from Old French fraudulent, from Latin fraudulentus, from fraus (“fraud”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɔː.dʒʊ.lənt/, /ˈfɹɔː.djʊ.lənt/, /ˈfɹɔː.dʒə.lənt/, /ˈfɹɔː.djə.lənt/, /ˈfɹɔːdʒ.lənt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɔ.d͡ʒə.lənt/, /ˈfɹɑd͡ʒ.lənt/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɑ.d͡ʒə.lənt/, /ˈfɹɑd͡ʒ.lənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

fraudulent (comparative more fraudulent, superlative most fraudulent)

1. Dishonest; based on fraud or deception.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, London: William Stansbye, published 1622, book III, page 98:

     Secondly, Philoſophy which we are warned not to take heed of : not that Philoſophy, which is true & ſound knowledge attained by naturall diſcourſe of reaſon ; but that Philoſophy which to bolſter hereſie or error, caſteth a fraudulent ſhew of reaſon vpon things which are indeed vnreaſonable, & by that meane as by a ſtratageme ſpoyleth the ſimple which are not able to withſtand ſuch cunning.

   • a. 1729, Samuel Clarke, “The Reward of Justice”, in The Works of Samuel Clarke, volume II, London: J. and P. Knapton, published 1738, page 191:

     The only reaſon, why men are not always ſufficiently ſenſible of This ; ſo that Many, who are very Juſt in their Dealings between Man and Man, will yet be very fraudulent or rapacious with regard to the Publick ; is becauſe, in this latter caſe, ’tis not ſo obviouſly and immediately apparent uppon Whom the Injury falls, as it is in the caſe of Private Wrongs.

   • 1827, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Machiavelli”, in Critical and Historical Essays: Contributed to The Edinburgh Review, new edition, volume I, London: Printed for Longman et al., published 1850, page 28:

     One writer gravely assures us that Maurice of Saxony learned all his fraudulent policy from that execrable volume [The Prince].

2. False, phony.

   He tried to pass a fraudulent check.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:deceptive
• See also Thesaurus:fake

Derived terms

• antifraudulent
• fraudulently
• fraudulentness
• nonfraudulent
• unfraudulent

Collocations

with nouns

• fraudulent claim
• fraudulent practice
• fraudulent transfer
• fraudulent scheme
• fraudulent transaction
• fraudulent document
• fraudulent intent
• fraudulent misrepresentation
• fraudulent act
• fraudulent action
• fraudulent mortgage
• fraudulent check
• fraudulent conveyance
• fraudulent accounting
• fraudulent bankruptcy
• fraudulent reporting

Translations

dishonest; based on fraud or deception

• Arabic: محتال
• Bulgarian: измамнически (bg) (izmamničeski), мошенически (bg) (mošeničeski)
• Catalan: fraudulent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 欺詐的 / 欺诈的 (zh) (qīzhà de), 詐欺的 / 诈欺的 (zh) (zhàqī de)

• Czech: podvodný
• Dutch: frauduleus (nl)
• Esperanto: fraŭda
• Finnish: vilpillinen (fi), epärehellinen (fi), valheellinen (fi)
• French: frauduleux (fr)
• Galician: fraudulento
• German: betrügerisch (de), schwindlerisch, betrugsanfällig (de)
• Hungarian: csalárd (hu)
• Ido: frauda (io)
• Irish: séitéartha
• Italian: fraudolento (it)
• Japanese: 詐欺の (ja) (さぎの, sagi no)
• Latin: fraudulentus
• Ottoman Turkish: باتاق (batak)
• Persian: شیادانه (fa) (šayyâdâne), فریب‌آمیز (farib-âmiz)
• Polish: oszukańczy (pl)
• Portuguese: fraudulento (pt)
• Romanian: fraudulos (ro)
• Russian: обма́нный (ru) (obmánnyj), моше́ннический (ru) (mošénničeskij)
• Sanskrit: कौट (sa) (kauṭa)
• Spanish: fraudulento (es)
• Swedish: falsk (sv)

false; phony

• Bulgarian: фалшив (bg) (falšiv)
• Catalan: fraudulent (ca)
• Finnish: valheellinen (fi), vale-, epäaito (fi), väärennetty (fi), väärä (fi)
• French: frauduleux (fr)
• Galician: fraudulento
• Greek:

  Ancient: κίβδηλος (kíbdēlos)

• Hungarian: hamis (hu)
• Ottoman Turkish: یالان (yalan), یالانجی (yalancı), ساخته (sahte)
• Polish: fałszywy (pl)
• Portuguese: fraudulento (pt)
• Romanian: fals (ro)
• Russian: фальши́вый (ru) (falʹšívyj), подде́льный (ru) (poddélʹnyj)
• Swedish: falsk (sv), förfalskad (sv)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fraudulentus.

Adjective

fraudulent (feminine fraudulenta, masculine plural fraudulents, feminine plural fraudulentes)

1. fraudulent

Derived terms

• fraudulentament

Related terms

• frau
• fraudulència

Further reading

• “fraudulent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “fraudulent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “fraudulent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “fraudulent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• fraudelent, ffraudulent

Etymology

From Middle French fraudulent, itself borrowed from Latin fraudulentus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfrau̯diu̯lɛnt/, /ˈfrau̯dilɛnt/

Adjective

fraudulent

1. Dishonest, fraudulent; based on fraud.
2. Necrotic, rotting; infected with or afflicted with gangrene.

Descendants

• English: fraudulent

References

• “fraude, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-06.