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Glite Dictionary
to suborn

to suborn

8 9.9
To persuade someone to do something illegal, especially to lie in court
  • verb
  • /səˈbɔrn/
  • Formal
translation icon : subornar
  • Clinton suborned perjury and was guilty of sexual harassment.

I don't know, because I can't think of anything that spells suborning perjury more than that.

Examples

  • This will of course end his career with the police department, and sent him as well as the person who suborned him to jail.

    Redbelt (2008)

  • His principle value to the organization... is his ability to suborn political leaders... and public officials on both state and city levels.

    The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

  • In addition to the specific charge of suborning a jury.

    Party Girl (1958)

  • While a defense lawyer, she suborned perjury as if it were something we all do.

    Blog text (31)

  • But until there is a consensus about what those limits should be, short of withholding evidence or suborning perjury, the debate about smoke-screen defenses will rage on and on.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The lawyer was accused of trying to suborn a witness to give false testimony in court.

  • If someone is caught attempting to suborn an official, they could face serious legal consequences.

  • During the investigation, they discovered evidence that suggested he tried to suborn employees to cover up the scandal.

Synonyms

to solicit
vsto suborn
  • NSFW
7 7.7

Urge someone to do something illegal

is specifically a legal act of inducing false testimony in court

Phrasal Verbs

to suborn perjury
  • Formal
7 9.9

Make someone lie in court, often by offering money

to suborn a public official
  • Formal
9.9

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

How Persuasive

to suborn
  • Formal
8 9.9
to bribe
140 4.1
to induce
51 4.9
to persuade
472 2.7
to ask
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

suborn infinitive
suborned past
suborned past participle
suborning present participle
suborns third person singular

Morphology

suborn = sub + orn

Although historically composed of sub- + a form related to Latin ornare, the element 'orn' is not a standalone English base and the meaning 'to bribe or induce perjury' is not transparently derivable by learners.

Etymology

Suborn comes from Latin parts sub- ('under') and ornare ('to equip' or 'to prepare'), the same root you see in adorn. It originally meant to secretly 'prepare' or 'set up', which is why suborn now means to secretly persuade someone to do something wrong, especially to 'give false testimony' in court.