blackmail
blackmail
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "blackmail" is ˈblækˌmeɪl.
🔊 Syllable Breakdown
The word is divided into two syllables: black and mail.
ˈblæk (First syllable):
b /b/ (voiced bilabial stop)
l /l/ (voiced alveolar lateral approximant)
a /æ/ (near-open front unrounded vowel)
ck /k/ (voiceless velar stop)
ˌmeɪl (Second syllable):
m /m/ (voiced bilabial nasal)
ai /eɪ/ (mid-front to high-front closing diphthong)
l /l/ (voiced alveolar lateral approximant)
Word Form Variations
The term "blackmail" functions as both a noun and a verb. The word form variations are:
Noun (Uncountable/Singular): blackmail (referring to the act or system)
Noun (Plural): blackmails (less common, but used to refer to multiple instances or demands)
Verb (Base Form/Present Plural): blackmail
Verb (Third Person Singular Present): blackmails
Verb (Past Tense/Past Participle): blackmailed
Verb (Present Participle/Gerund): blackmailing
Related Noun (Agent): blackmailer (singular)
Related Noun (Agent, Plural): blackmailers
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
📌 Noun: Blackmail
Definition: The coercive act of demanding payment, money, or a specific action from a person by threatening to reveal compromising, damaging, or secret information about them to a third party or the public. It can also refer to the payment or money extorted through this process.
Synonyms: Extortion, shakedown, hush money, intimidation, coercion, ransom.
Antonyms: Donation, gift, offering, honesty, voluntary payment, disclosure.
📌 Verb: To Blackmail
Definition: To subject someone to the criminal act of blackmail; to exert unfair pressure on an individual by making threats of public exposure or other harm unless they comply with a demand, typically for money or a specific action.
Synonyms: Extort, coerce, threaten, intimidate, pressure, squeeze.
Antonyms: Assist, help, aid, support, relieve, encourage.
Examples of Use
📰 News and Online Publications
Political and Business Scandals: The word is frequently used in reports about high-profile figures. For instance, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos accused the parent company of the National Enquirer of attempted blackmail by threatening to publish private photos and texts unless he made a false public statement (Upworthy, February 2019).
Cybercrime: News outlets often cover cases of digital blackmail, specifically sextortion (a form of sexual blackmail), where cybercriminals threaten to release a victim's intimate photos or videos, often obtained through hacking or romance scams, unless a ransom is paid (Minc Law, December 2024).
Legal Reporting: The term is used in court reporting and legal analysis to categorize crimes, distinguishing it from general extortion. For example, reports on a 2009 case against a CBS news producer noted his conviction for attempting to blackmail talk show host David Letterman with private information about his affairs with staff members (Digital Forensics Corporation).
📚 Books and Historical Accounts
Historical Biographies and Texts: The word describes historical acts of coercion. The FBI's attempts to discredit and pressure Martin Luther King Jr., which included threats to release tapes of his private life, are often referred to as a case of government blackmail (Toptenz.net, May 2022).
True Crime and Non-Fiction: The term features heavily in non-fiction accounts of crime. For instance, the blackmail of one of the conspirators in the 1830 murder of Captain Joseph White by an enterprising ne'er-do-well is detailed in historical records, demonstrating the antiquity of this crime (Commonplace, April 2012).
🎬 Entertainment Mediums and Platforms
Film: Blackmail is a common plot device in cinema. The word is central to the plot of movies like the 1985 comedy Clue, where all the dinner guests are being blackmailed by the host, Mr. Boddy (MovieWeb, August 2023). Other classics, like Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess (1953), also use blackmail to frame the protagonist.
Television: The concept is a recurring theme in television, particularly in crime and drama. A notable example is the Black Mirror episode "The National Anthem," where a prominent official is compelled to perform a humiliating public act under the threat of blackmail to save a royal family member (Reddit, July 2024).
General Public Discourse: Outside of formal reporting, blackmail is used metaphorically in discussions of leverage and pressure. For instance, in discussions about the entertainment industry, some commentators have suggested that studios or powerful figures have used contractual obligations and threats of career damage as a form of blackmail to force actors into undesirable roles (Reddit, August 2024).
10 Famous Quotes Using Blackmail
“I have nothing to get off my chest, and I'm not submitting to your emotional blackmail.” (Wednesday Addams, Wednesday)
“The bonds of friendship dwindle with age, Oliver. But a little blackmail lasts forever.” (Stephen Hunt, The Court of the Air)
“Matrimonial blackmail is a very real power, Harriet.” (Dorothy L. Sayers, Busman's Honeymoon)
“A blackmailer only has power when you give him the right to make you feel ashamed of something he knows about you.” (Joe Francis)
“I became an expert in emotional blackmail by the time I was five.” (Doris Lessing)
“Friendship with Hannibal is blackmail elevated to the level of love.” (Alana Bloom, Hannibal TV series)
“No nuclear blackmail to see.” (Narendra Modi, November 2025)
“Blackmail is the ideal business, because the target is incentivized to keep your flow of money a secret.” (Jarod Kintz)
“Being rich is not as great as it seems; you become a target for blackmail, lawsuits, scams, etc.” (Bob McCoy)
“When I give in to someone who's pressuring me, I do it because... I'll feel too guilty if I don't, or I'm afraid they won't like me anymore; that is emotional blackmail.” (Susan Forward, Emotional Blackmail)
Etymology
The word blackmail has a history that's rooted in a very old form of organized crime, not in sending threatening letters in the mail.
The word is a combination of two older terms: "black" and "mail".
The Meaning of "Mail"
The "mail" part of the word has nothing to do with the postal service (letters or packages).
It comes from a much older Scottish and Old Norse word, mál (or Middle English male), which meant "rent," "tribute," or "payment."
The Meaning of "Black"
The "black" part refers to the nature of the payment, and contrasts with an older term called "white mail" or "white rent."
White mail was the honest, lawful rent paid by tenants to their landlords, usually in silver coins (which are white).
Blackmail was a dishonest, criminal payment. It was a tribute paid in goods, such as black cattle, crops, or labor. It's also thought that "black" was used simply to signify the evil, illegal, or dark nature of the transaction.
First Known Use and Meaning
First Known Use: The word blackmail first appeared as a noun in the mid-16th century (around the 1530s-1550s).
Original Meaning: It originally referred to a protection racket practiced by powerful, often criminal, chiefs or "freebooters" along the border between England and Scotland. These groups would demand that local farmers and landowners pay them this "black rent" in exchange for not having their property stolen or their land plundered.
The modern meaning—extorting money or action by threatening to reveal secrets—developed much later, around the 19th century, as the idea generalized from physical protection money to any form of coercion involving a damaging threat.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Blackmail
Blackmail is primarily a formal or legal term, so it doesn't appear in many conventional idioms. However, the term emotional blackmail is a very common fixed phrase, and other phrases are built around its usage.
🗣️ Phrases and Idioms Using "Blackmail"
Emotional Blackmail: The act of using someone's feelings of fear, obligation, or guilt (FOG) to control their behavior.
To commit blackmail: To perform the crime or act of demanding something valuable under threat.
To face a blackmail threat: To be the target of a threat to reveal damaging information unless a demand is met.
Blackmail material: Compromising information, evidence, or secrets that can be used to threaten a person.
Political blackmail: The use of threats—such as exposing corruption or personal secrets—to influence a political decision or force a resignation.
🔄 Supplemental Phrases Using Synonyms
These phrases and idioms use synonyms like extort or squeeze to convey a similar effect of coercion and undue pressure:
To put the squeeze on (someone): To apply intense pressure or intimidation to get money, information, or cooperation from someone.
To hold for ransom: To seize or hold a person (or sometimes an object/data) and demand payment for their release; often used figuratively.
To have dirt on (someone): To possess incriminating or scandalous information about a person that can be used for leverage.
To pay hush money: To give someone money specifically to keep a secret, effectively paying for their silence to avoid exposure (a form of extortion).
To twist one's arm: To coerce or persuade someone strongly to do something they are reluctant to do.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of blackmail from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
