embezzlement

embezzlement — noun

1. the crime of illegally taking money or property that someone trusted you to look

1.nounC1
Definition

the crime of illegally taking money or property that someone trusted you to look after as part of your job

Example

The finance director was found guilty of embezzlement and sent to prison.

passive: found guilty of embezzlement

Embezzlement often goes unnoticed for years when one person controls the accounts alone.

collocation: go unnoticed for years

Common collocations
  • commit embezzlement
  • charged with embezzlement
  • guilty of embezzlement
  • convicted of embezzlement
  • embezzlement scheme
  • embezzlement scandal
Synonyms
  • misappropriation

    more formal legal term; often used for public funds or institutional money, sometimes without the criminal charge implied by embezzlement

  • fraud

    broader term covering any deception for financial gain — embezzlement is one type of fraud that involves a trusted position

  • theft

    general word for taking property that belongs to someone else; embezzlement is a specific kind of theft where the person had permission to handle the money

Grammar Patterns

embezzlement of [money/assets]

charge with embezzlement

guilty of embezzlement

Usage Note

Common in legal and financial reporting. The term always implies that the person had lawful access to the money through their position but used it for personal gain — it is not used for theft by outsiders who break in.

Common Mistakes

The thief who stole her wallet was guilty of embezzlement.
The thief who stole her wallet was guilty of theft.
embezzlement is a specific type of theft committed by someone who was trusted with the money or property, not by a stranger.

Word family

  • embezzle
    verbC1
  • embezzler
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Embezzlement, theft, fraud, and misappropriation all involve taking something that does not belong to you, but they differ in setting and intent. Theft is the broadest term: taking someone else's property without permission, whether by a pickpocket or a burglar. Fraud is wider still — it covers any deception intended for financial gain, from fake investments to identity theft. Embezzlement sits at the intersection: it is a type of fraud (there is deception) and a type of theft (property is taken), but it has a unique element — the offender was given lawful access to the money through their job or role. A bank teller who quietly moves customer funds to their own account commits embezzlement; a stranger who robs the same bank commits robbery, not embezzlement. Misappropriation is the most formal of the four and often appears in civil instead of criminal contexts, such as a politician using campaign donations for personal travel — legally wrong, but sometimes charged as misconduct rather than as a crime.

embezzlementtheftfraudmisappropriation

Common collocations

Nouns

  • embezzlement case
  • embezzlement scandal
  • embezzlement charge
  • embezzlement scheme

Phrases

  • an embezzlement of [amount]
  • a case of embezzlement

Prepositions

  • charged with embezzlement
  • guilty of embezzlement
  • convicted of embezzlement
  • lost money through embezzlement

Etymology

Anglo-FrenchEnglish

Embezzlement comes from the Anglo-French word 'embesiller', meaning 'to make away with property'. It entered English law in the 1400s, when courts needed a word for servants who stole from their masters — a crime that ordinary theft laws did not cover because the servant had permission to handle the goods. Over time the term was extended to any workplace where someone is trusted with money or valuables.