to bribe

Examples

• All

• He tried to bribe the French king, but to no avail.

• You're crazy, trying to bribe a superior court judge.

  Blind Date (1987)

• - I had to bribe them.

  Sideways (2004)

• Is it fair to bribe the driver to turn around and go back home?

  The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)

• In fact, they often tried their best to bribe him to get him to go.

  Fiction book (1993)

• The only way maybe is to bribe them somehow.

  Terry Stone Connection

• Moreover, the poor had no money to bribe members of the press gang.

  Academic text (2007)

• Lawmakers also explicitly made the act of bribing a foreign official a crime in itself.

  Academic text (2007)

• Even the police, the men and women who swore to keep us safe, they can be bribed.

  RoboCop (2014)

• The cartels transport drugs through territories in which they have bribed politicians, police, military officials, and border guards.

  Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

B

to buy

vsto bribe

507 8.9

To pay someone illegally to influence their actions

targets people in authority to secure dishonest or favorable acts

B

to buy off

vsto bribe

16 6.8

Give money or gifts to someone so they stay quiet and do something wrong

is broader, aiming to persuade people in authority to do dishonest or favorable acts

G

to grease one's palms

vsto bribe

• Informal

1 8.5

To give someone money secretly to make them do something for you

is more neutral and not an informal idiom

G

to grease someone's palm

vsto bribe

• Informal

8.1

To give someone money secretly to make them do something for you

is more neutral and not an informal idiom

S

to suborn a public official

vsto bribe

• Formal

9.9

To bribe a public official to make them do something illegal or dishonest

is more general, covering payments to persuade authorities without necessarily causing illegal acts

G

to grease the mayor's palm

vsto bribe

• Informal

9.8

To give money or gifts to a mayor to get a special favor

applies to people in authority generally rather than a single official like a mayor

S

to sop

vsto bribe

9.9

To give something to calm someone who is angry or unhappy

focuses on persuading authorities to act rather than mainly calming complaints

C

to cross one's palm with silver

vsto bribe

• Archaic

9.3

To give someone money to get a favor, often as a bribe

usually means illegal payment to authorities to secure dishonest or favorable acts

Antonyms

R

to refuse

716 1.7

To say no to a request or offer

How Corrupting

to corrupt

125 4.5

to bribe

140 4.1

to pay off

24 5.0

Surface Forms

Etymology