blackmailer

UK: /ˈblækmeɪlə^r/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

black•mail /ˈblækˌmeɪl/   n. 

[uncountable]
1. an act of frightening someone into making a payment of money, as by revealing secrets:
   accused of blackmail based on the threatening letters he wrote.
2. the payment made:
   The blackmail was $25,000.
3. any similar act of threatening someone into doing something undesirable:
   The spoiled brat used emotional blackmail on his parents.

v. [~ + object]

4. to force (someone) into paying blackmail:
   For years his partner blackmailed him with those pictures he had taken.

black•mail•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

black•mail  (blak′māl′), n. 

1. any payment extorted by intimidation, as by threats of injurious revelations or accusations.
2. the extortion of such payment:
   He confessed rather than suffer the dishonor of blackmail.
3. a tribute formerly exacted in the north of England and in Scotland by freebooting chiefs for protection from pillage.

v.t. 

4. to extort money from (a person) by the use of threats.
5. to force or coerce into a particular action, statement, etc.:
   The strikers claimed they were blackmailed into signing the new contract.

• black + mail³ 1545–55

black′mail′er, n.