🇪🇸Spanish Source WordCode: ES

chantaje

Pronunciation / Transliteration: tʃanˈtaxe

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Blackmail/ˈblæk.meɪl/
nounverbCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #1500 frequency
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🇪🇸 Example Sentence in Spanish:

"Fue acusado de chantaje."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    The act of demanding payment or another benefit from someone by threatening to reveal compromising information about them.

    "The journalist was accused of blackmailing a politician with sensitive information."
As verb
  1. 1

    To coerce someone into doing something by threatening to reveal damaging information.

    "He was blackmailing her into silence about the scandal."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The term 'blackmail' originated in the late 16th century from the Scottish term 'black mail', which referred to the payment of rent in the form of goods or services, often under threat. The 'black' in this context indicated something illegal or immoral, while 'mail' referred to payment or tribute.

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