embezzlement
n. uncountablen. the crime of stealing money from your own employer or a company you work for. It happens when someone is trusted with money but decides to keep it for themselves.
n. the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property by a person to whom such assets have been entrusted. Typically involves a breach of fiduciary duty within a corporate or governmental context.
The accountant was arrested for embezzlement after the audit.
The non-profit organization collapsed after a senior director was found guilty of embezzlement over a five-year period.
While simple theft involves taking property from another, embezzlement is distinguished by the fact that the perpetrator initially had legal possession of the assets through their professional role.
From embezzle + -ment.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Often used as the object of verbs like 'commit', 'investigate', or 'uncover'.
he embezzled from the bank's moneyhe embezzled the bank's moneyThe verb form is transitive; you embezzle the money itself, rather than using 'from' to describe the source.
Last updated May 11, 2026