flim-flam

See also: flimflam

English

Alternative forms

• flimflam

Etymology

1538 as noun, 1660 as verb. By reduplication. Perhaps from a dialectal word or Scandinavian; compare Old Norse flim (“lampoon, mockery”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æm
• IPA^(key): /ˈflɪmflæm/

Noun

flim-flam (countable and uncountable, plural flim-flams)

1. Misinformation; bunkum; false information presented as true.

   Most reports of supernatural occurrences turn out to be flim-flam when carefully investigated.

2. confidence game, con game
3. (archaic) table tennis

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:nonsense

Derived terms

• flim-flam man: Confidence trickster
• flam

References

• Flimflam / Claptrap, The Word Detective, 2009–04–13