embezzlement
/ˌɪmˈbɛzəlmənt/noun
embezzlement is spelled E-M-B-E-Z-Z-L-E-M-E-N-T: 12 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, embezzlement means “The fraudulent conversion of property from a property owner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of embezzlement is embezzlements.
How many letters and syllables are in embezzlement?
| Letters | 12: E-M-B-E-Z-Z-L-E-M-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,214th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is embezzlement?
Embezzlement appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce embezzlement?
- US /ˌɪmˈbɛzəlmənt/
- US /ˌəmˈbɛzəlmənt/
Embezzlement has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-US_embezzlement.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-embezzlement.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of embezzlement
- embezzlements plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does embezzlement mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The fraudulent conversion of property from a property owner.
He was arrested for embezzlement of company funds.
- 2
Such conversion from public property.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Embezzlement in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the fraudulent conversion of property from a property owner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | détournement |
| German | Unterschlagung |
| Portuguese | peculato, desfalque, estelionato, fraude |
| Spanish | apropiación indebida, peculado, desfalco, malversación |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does embezzlement come from?
From embezzle + -ment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).