sextortion

9.9

Threatening to show private sexual pictures to force someone to give money, sex, or other things

noun
/sɛkˈstɔrʃən/

Offensive

: sextorsión

The police are working hard to combat sextortion by raising awareness and providing resources for victims.

Examples

Law enforcement agencies are working to combat sextortion cases around the world.
Many teenagers have become sextortion victims after trusting strangers online.
She warned her friends about the risk of sextortion after her own experience.
He was a victim of sextortion online.
Many cases of sextortion go unreported.
Victims of sextortion often feel too ashamed to seek help, fearing that their private images will be shared.
He fell victim to sextortion when someone threatened to release his private messages unless he paid a ransom.

Synonyms

blackmail

vssextortion

102 5.2

A crime of demanding money by threatening to tell someone's secret

targets sexual images or details and often asks for sex or money

extortion

vssextortion

95 7.4

Getting money or other things using threats, force and misuse of power

uses threats to reveal sexual images to gain sex money or other benefits

Antonyms

consent

Formal

344 3.2

Permission for something to happen, often given in writing

Surface Forms

sextortion singular

sextortions plural

Morphology

sextortion = extortion (semi-transparent) = sex + tortion

The combination of 'sex' and 'extortion' is clear, but the specific practice of using sexual material for extortion is not immediately obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Sextortion is a modern blend of sex and extortion, where sex means 'sexual content' and extortion means 'getting money or favors by threats'. So, sextortion is when someone threatens to share sexual images or information to force a person to pay, give sexual favors, or do other things they do not want to do.