scam
Plural: scams
Noun
- a fraudulent business scheme
- A fraudulent deal.
- Something that is promoted using scams.
Verb
Verb Forms: scammed, scamming, scams
- To cheat or swindle someone, especially with a dishonest scheme.
- deprive of by deceit
- To defraud or embezzle.
- To seek out a partner for casual sex; to hit on.
Examples
- He tried to SCAM his opponent by suggesting a fake word, but was quickly caught.
- That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.
- That new diet burger is a scam.
- They tried to scam her out of her savings.
Origin / Etymology
US American carnival slang of uncertain origin. Possibly from scamp (“swindler, cheater”) or Irish cam (“crooked”). Also possibly from Danish skam; if so, it would be a doublet of shame and sham. First use appears c. 1963 in the periodical Time. The word became common use among the US drug culture when in early 1980, after Operation ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation directed at public officials, became public.
Synonyms
bunco, con, cozenage, defraud, diddle, gip, goldbrick, gyp, hornswoggle, mulct, nobble, rook, short-change, swindle, victimize, Abraham work, Punic faith, deceit, deception, dupery, fiddle, jugglery, list, mislead, rinky-dink, ruse, subterfuge, swack, trickery
Scrabble Score: 8
scam: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordscam: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
scam: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary