Thesaurus results for BRIBES

bribes 1 of 2

noun

plural of bribe

as in incentives

something given or promised in order to improperly influence a person's conduct or decision that judge refused a huge bribe to dismiss the charges against the wealthy defendant

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bribes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of bribe

as in buys

to influence someone with a bribe meat inspectors were bribed, and the contaminated beef was sold to the public

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of bribes

Noun

The state attorney general was accused of accepting bribes and abusing his office to help a political donor whom the FBI was investigating. — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 13 Oct. 2026 Prosecutors accused Smith and at least 26 other named defendants of wagering millions of dollars and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to players in bribes. — ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026 Avichai Mandelblit indicted the prime minister seven years ago on fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. — Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026 The boxes allegedly cost substantially less to produce, allowing the conspirators to use the inflated prices to finance bribes and divert government funds. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2026 Some of the contracts appear to have been padded to pay bribes to Diamantis. — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 3 Oct. 2026 These scandals, which included massive bribes and kickbacks on projects across the continent, contributed to a political crisis that, in 2016, ended Dilma Rousseff’s presidency and, in 2018, sent Lula to prison. — Matias Spektor, Foreign Affairs, 2 Oct. 2026 Many choose to make use of a corrupt brokerage system, where people with connections in the foreign ministry and other regime appendages facilitate large bribes for new, and sometimes fake, documentation. — Andrew Nachemson, The Dial, 22 Sep. 2026 Diamantis has another pending criminal case in federal court, where he's accused of taking bribes to quash a state audit of an eye doctor accused of Medicaid fraud. — CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026

Verb

In one of the film’s most madcap and darkly comedic moments, Linda bribes her daughter with the promise of a pet hamster — who turns out to be a biter, desperate to escape its box. — Rachel Brodsky, Rolling Stone, 8 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bribes

Noun

Commercial incentives persist Koh said shipping companies around the world have continued looking for opportunities to navigate the Strait since the conflict erupted, with some operators prepared to accept higher risks and costs.

— Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
These changes would reduce costs, free up management bandwidth and improve IPO formation incentives.

— Jeff Jacobs, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of incentives

Verb

That follows two $500,000 ad buys from the business group, which has historically aligned with Republicans, praising incumbent Sens.

— semafor.com, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Simpler battery packs lower costs The company buys battery cells and assembles its own packs rather than manufacturing the cells themselves.

— Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of buys

Noun

Six weeks, the equivalent of six months in AI processing time, passed before OpenAI’s leadership published a full technical explanation of the Hugging Face penetration and proposed necessary fixes.

— John Caruso, Hartford Courant, 14 Oct. 2026
Incremental patchwork fixes have failed for over fifty years.

— WCCO Staff, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of fixes

Verb

In the exceedingly bleak ending to the book, Bela realizes that the demon has killed and styled itself after her Grandma Ruth, who lures Russell and Ursula to their death.

— William Earl, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026
The Vegetarian by Han Kang, 208 Pages This haunting novel lures readers when a woman’s sudden decision to stop eating meat triggers a destructive crisis in her family.

— Arabella Hau, Southern Living, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of lures

Verb

Artificial plays like a modern-day parable in which the trickster god seduces the innocent.

— E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
Diaz centers music as the emotional vehicle that provides a philosophical structure for the character tropes and in turn psychologically seduces the audience to internalize certain ideas of social dynamics.

— Damaly Gonzalez, ARTnews.com, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of seduces

Verb

Set in 2029 in a future where no mutants have been born in 25 years, Jackman plays an older, grizzlier Wolverine, one whose healing factor is fading as his adamantium skeleton slowly poisons him.

— Will Harris, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Aug. 2026
Any infection can progress to a systemic disease that poisons the blood and body.

— RJ Mackenzie, Popular Science, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of poisons

Verb

Turkey’s growing hair transplant and restoration industry in particular entices people with easy-to-digest all-inclusive packages advertised on their websites, online placements, and social media.

— Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 23 Sep. 2026
The high-concept thriller stars Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as a demonic character called The Stranger, who entices a young mother played by Jasmine Trinca into forging a Faustian pact.

— Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of entices

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bribers

bribes

bribing

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“Bribes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bribes. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of bribes

noun

verb

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