to defalcate
- verb
- /ˈdɛfəlˌkeɪt/
- Formal
:
malversar
- Auditors discovered she had defalcated a significant sum over several years.
Examples
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The manager was charged when he tried to defalcate funds from the company account.
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Anyone who attempts to defalcate public money commits a serious crime.
-
He defalcated a large sum from the charity.
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The accountant defalcates funds regularly.
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The accountant was caught trying to defalcate money from the clients' trust funds.
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She faced criminal charges after she was found to have defalcated hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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After conducting an audit, the committee discovered that he attempted to defalcate a portion of the donations.
Synonyms
56
6.8
To take money meant for something and put it somewhere else, often secretly
40
6.9
To illegally get money or things from someone by lying
28
8.1
To steal money or things that you were trusted with and use them yourself illegally
20
5.5
To cheat someone and take their money by lying
5
8.4
To take money or things you were trusted with and use them yourself
To steal money or property that someone trusted you to keep
To take money that people trust you to keep and use it for yourself
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
defalcate = de + falc + ate
Although historically analyzable as Latin de- + falc- + -ate, modern learners cannot derive 'embezzle' from these components and there is no recognizable productive English base that yields the sense.
Etymology
Defalcate comes from the Latin parts de- 'away' or 'off' and falc- from falx 'sickle', so imagine cutting money away with a sickle. That's why to defalcate is to take or misuse money that was trusted to you.