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Fraud vs Prank - What's the difference?

fraud | prank |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between fraud and prank

is that fraud is (obsolete) to defraud while prank is (obsolete) full of gambols or tricks.

As nouns the difference between fraud and prank

is that fraud is any act of deception carried out for the purpose of unfair, undeserved and/or unlawful gain while prank is (obsolete) an evil deed; a malicious trick, an act of cruel deception.

As verbs the difference between fraud and prank

is that fraud is (obsolete) to defraud while prank is to adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously.

As an adjective prank is

(obsolete) full of gambols or tricks.

fraud

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Any act of deception carried out for the purpose of unfair, undeserved and/or unlawful gain.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • If success a lover's toil attends, / Few ask, if fraud or force attained his ends.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=
    • , title=Internal Combustion , chapter=1 citation , passage=But electric vehicles and the batteries that made them run became ensnared in corporate scandals, fraud , and monopolistic corruption that shook the confidence of the nation and inspired automotive upstarts.}}
  • The assumption of a false identity to such deceptive end.
  • A person who performs any such trick.
  • (obsolete) A trap or snare.
  • * Milton
    • to draw the proud King Ahab into fraud

    Synonyms

    * (criminal) deceit * trickery * hoky-poky * imposture * (person ) faker, fraudster, impostor, cheat(er), trickster

    Related terms

    * defraud * fraudulence * fraudulent * fraudulently * fraudulentness * insurance fraud * mail fraud * pious fraud * wire fraud

    See also

    * embezzlement * false billing * false advertising * forgery * identity theft * predatory lending * quackery * usury * white-collar crime

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To defraud

    • prank

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) An evil deed; a malicious trick, an act of cruel deception.
  • *, II.4.2.ii:
    • Hercules, after all his mad pranks upon his wife and children, was perfectly cured by a purge of hellebor, which an Antieyrian administered unto him.
  • A practical joke or mischievous trick.
  • * Shakespeare
    • His pranks have been too broad to bear with.
  • * Sir Walter Raleigh
    • The harpies played their accustomed pranks .
    Pranks may be funny, but remember that some people are aggressive.
    He pulled a gruesome prank on his sister.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * prankish * pranksome * prankster

    Verb

  • To adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously.
  • * Spenser
    • In sumptuous tire she joyed herself to prank .
  • * 1748 , , B:II
    • And there a Sea?on atween June and May,
    Half prankt with Spring, with Summer half imbrown'd,
    A li?tle?s Climate made, where, Sooth to ?ay,
    No living Wight could work, ne cared even for Play.
  • * 1880 , For Spring, by Sandro Botticelli , lines 2–3
    • ''Flora, wanton-eyed
    ''For birth, and with all flowrets prankt and pied:
  • To make ostentatious show.
  • * M. Arnold
    • White houses prank where once were huts.
  • To perform a practical joke on; to trick.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2007, date=May 13, author=Karen Crouse, title=Still Invitation Only, but Jets Widen Door for Camp, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=“If someone’s pranking me,” Rowlands remembered thinking, “they’re going to great lengths to make it work.” }}
  • (slang) To call someone's phone and promptly hang up
    • Hey man, prank me when you wanna get picked up.
    I don't have your number in my phone, can you prank me?

    Synonyms

    (call and promptly hang up) missed call, missed-call

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Full of gambols or tricks.
    • (Webster 1913) English transitive verbs