English [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] US carnival slang of uncertain origin. Possibly from scamp ( “ swindler, cheater ” ) or Irish cam ( “ crooked ” ) . Also possibly from Danish skam doublet of shame sham
The word "scam" became common use among the US "drug culture" in early 1980 after Operation ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation directed at public officials, became public.
Pronunciation [ edit ] scam (plural scams
A fraudulent deal.
That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.
Something that is promoted using scams.
That new diet burger is a scam .
Synonyms [ edit ] Coordinate terms [ edit ] Derived terms [ edit ] Translations [ edit ] fraudulent deal
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Arabic: اِحْتِيَال m ( iḥtiyāl )
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Bengali: ছলনা ( cholna )
Bulgarian: нечестна сделка f ( nečestna sdelka ) , изма́ма (bg) f ( izmáma )
Catalan: estafa (ca) f enredada f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 詭計 ／ 诡计 (zh) ( guǐjì ) , 騙局 ／ 骗局 (zh) ( piànjú )
Czech: podvod (cs) m
Danish: bondefanger
Dutch: oplichting (nl) f deceptie (nl) , bedrog (nl) , misleiding (nl)
Esperanto: trompo friponaĵo
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: huijaus (fi) , vedätys (fi) , vilunki (fi) ( informal )
French: entourloupe (fr) f arnaque (fr) f escroquerie (fr) f trucage (fr) m manipulation (fr) f tour de passe-passe (fr) m tripotage (fr) m
Galician: calote m
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Betrug (de) m Beschiss (de) m Gaunerei (de) f Schwindel (de) m Trickdiebstahl (de) m Trickbetrug m
Greek: απάτη (el) f ( apáti ) , κομπίνα (el) f ( kompína )
Hebrew: תרגיל עוקץ הונאה (he) f ( honaá ) , תרמית f ( tarmít )
Ido: eskroko (io)
Indonesian: scam
Italian: scam (it) m fregatura (it) f truffa (it) f imbroglio (it) m raggiro (it) m inciucio (it) m tresca (it) f intrallazzo (it) m macchinazione (it) f pastetta f bidone (it) m bidonata (it) f trucco (it) m frode (it) f
Japanese: 詐欺 (ja) ( さぎ, sagi )
Kabuverdianu: kanbalaxu
Khmer: ការបោកប្រាស់ ( kaa baok prah ) , គ្រោងការក្បត់ ( krooŋ kaa kbɑt )
Lao: please add this translation if you can
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: и́змама f ( ízmama ) , дала́вера f ( dalávera ) , ду́бара f ( dúbara )
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian: bondefangeri
Plautdietsch: Schwindel m
Polish: oszustwo (pl) n przekręt (pl) m szwindel (pl) m
Portuguese: golpe (pt) m calote (pt) m embrulhada f fraude (pt) f falcatrua (pt) f logro (pt) m
Russian: афе́ра (ru) f ( aféra ) , жу́льничество (ru) n ( žúlʹničestvo ) , моше́нничество (ru) n ( mošénničestvo ) ; partly: обма́н (ru) m ( obmán ) , надува́тельство (ru) n ( naduvátelʹstvo )
Spanish: estafa (es) f timo (es) m engaño (es) m engañifa f chanchullo (es) m tejemaneje m petardo (es) m
Swedish: lurendrejeri (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: dolandırma
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
scam (third-person singular simple present scams present participle scamming simple past and past participle scammed
( transitive , intransitive ) To defraud or embezzle .
They tried to scam her out of her savings.
Synonyms [ edit ] Translations [ edit ] to defraud or embezzle
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Arabic: اِحْتَالَ ( iḥtāla )
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Azerbaijani: atmaq (az)
Bulgarian: мамя (bg) ( mamja )
Catalan: estafar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 欺詐 ／ 欺诈 (zh) ( qīzhà ) , 騙局 ／ 骗局 (zh) ( piànjú ) , 詐騙 ／ 诈骗 (zh) ( zhàpiàn )
Dutch: oplichten (nl)
Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: vedättää (fi) , huijata (fi)
French: entourlouper (fr) , arnaquer (fr)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: betrügen (de)
Hebrew: הונה (he) ( honá ) , רימה (he) ( rimá )
Italian: truffare (it) , imbrogliare (it) , raggirare (it) , fregare (it)
Japanese: please add this translation if you can
Khmer: ស៊ីឆ ( sii cʰɑɑ ) , ឆីឆ ( cʰəy-cʰɑɑ ) , បោកប្រាស់ ( baok prah )
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: и́змами pf ( ízmami ) , ма́ми impf ( mámi )
Portuguese: aplicar um golpe lograr (pt)
Russian: обма́нывать (ru) ( obmányvatʹ ) , кида́ть (ru) ( kidátʹ )
Spanish: estafar (es) , timar (es)
Swedish: lura (sv) , scama ( colloquial )
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: dolandırmak (tr)
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
Anagrams [ edit ] ACMs ACSM CAMs CASM CSMA M. A. Sc. M.A.Sc. MACs MASc MCAs Macs SMAC cams macs masc masc. Middle Irish [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] Attested only in the plural form scaim Proto-Celtic *skamos Welsh ysgafn Welsh ysgyfaint Breton skañv Cornish skav
scam
lung References [ edit ] Matasović, R. (2009). Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic , p.339. Brill: Boston. 