EN

Synonyms for scam

22 synonyms
1 meaning

verb
noun

Most common

con defraud swindle victimize

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

swindle, con, defraud, victimize, victimise UK, do, short-change, diddle, rook, bunco, mulct, cozen, chouse, hornswoggle slang, nobble slang

Noun

1. Fraud — A fraudulent or dishonest deal. A swindle

fraud, deceit, hocus-pocus, imposition formal, deception

Other

gold brick, con game, cozenage

Definitions

v. 1
To defraud or embezzle.
They tried to scam her out of her savings.
n. 1
A fraudulent or dishonest deal. A swindle.
That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.

Related words

Word family: scamdemic scammer scamster
Phrases: romance scam

Forms

Plural: scams → frauds, deceits, hocus-pocuses, impositions…
Past participle: scammed
e.g. scammed → swindled, conned, defrauded, victimized…

Example sentences

con Sami doesn't want an ex-con working at his office.
defraud It was an intricate scheme to defraud the rightful heirs.
swindle Be careful. He's not an easy one to swindle.
victimize Silent drones victimize more people.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
scam		rising
con		falling
defraud		falling
swindle		steady
victimize		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

2 letters: do¹
3 letters: con¹
4 letters: rook¹
5 letters: fraud¹, bunco, cozen, mulct¹
6 letters: deceit², diddle², nobble, chouse
7 letters: defraud², swindle²
8 letters: cozenage
9 letters: deception³, victimize³, victimise
10 letters: imposition⁴
11 letters: hornswoggle

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (deceit² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: entourlouper