What does blackmail mean?
Blackmail is the act of demanding money, property, or some other benefit from a person by threatening to expose damaging or embarrassing information about them unless they comply. It can be used both as a noun ('the victim reported the blackmail to the police') and as a verb ('he tried to blackmail her into silence'). The term carries strong negative connotations, denoting coercion and exploitation rather than legitimate persuasion, and it is universally condemned as a criminal offence. In everyday usage, the word extends beyond literal threats of exposure to describe any form of manipulative pressure — so-called emotional blackmail, for example, involves using guilt or affection as leverage. The word's origin lies in sixteenth-century Scottish history, when border farmers were forced to pay protection money in livestock or produce rather than coin. Today blackmail remains a potent shorthand for abuse of power through secrecy and fear, making it an essential word for discussing ethics, law, journalism, and interpersonal manipulation.
The crime or practice of demanding money or another benefit from someone by threatening to reveal damaging information about them.
"The senator's aide was convicted of blackmail after threatening to leak private correspondence."
To demand money or another benefit from someone by threatening to reveal damaging information about them.
"He was blackmailed into signing the contract by threats to publish his old emails."
Rarely used in the plural; blackmail is typically treated as an uncountable mass noun referring to the activity or practice.
"The investigation uncovered multiple instances of blackmail within the organisation."
The word 'blackmail' comes from 16th-century Scottish border farmers who literally paid rent in cattle and crops — 'black' goods — instead of silver coins, which was called 'white' rent.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of blackmail
Blackmail derives from the sixteenth-century Scottish phrase 'black mail', referring to tribute or rent extracted from farmers along the Anglo-Scottish border, often paid in livestock or produce ('black' goods) rather than silver ('white mail', or 'white rent'). The 'black' element came to signify something nefarious or coercive, and by the seventeenth century the compound had acquired its modern sense of extortion by threats of exposure. The component 'mail' here comes from an older sense of payment or rent, ultimately of Germanic origin.
Related word forms
How blackmail is actually used
Both noun and verb are standard in formal and legal contexts. 'Emotional blackmail' is a well-established figurative extension for manipulative personal relationships.
Easily confused with blackmail
Extortion is the broader crime of obtaining something through force or threats of any kind (including violence or property damage), while blackmail specifically relies on threats to expose damaging information.