English
Etymology
US carnival slang. Possibly from scamp ( “ swindler, cheater ” ) .
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
Noun
scam (plural scams )
A fraudulent deal.
That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me .
Something that is promoted using scams.
That car was a scam .
Synonyms
Coordinate terms
Translations
fraudulent deal
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Arabic: اِحْتِيَال m ( iḥtiyāl )
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Catalan: estafa (ca) f , enredada f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 詭計 / 诡计 (zh) ( guǐjì ) , 诡计 (zh) ( guǐjì ) , 騙局 / 骗局 (zh) ( piànjú ) , 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)
French: entourloupe (fr) f , arnaque (fr) f , escroquerie (fr) f
Galician: scam m
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Vorschussbetrug m , Trickdiebstahl (de) m , Trickbetrug m
Greek: απάτη (el) f ( apáti ) , κομπίνα (el) f ( kompína )
Hebrew: תרגיל עוקץ
Ido: eskroko (io)
Indonesian: scam
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Italian: scam m , fregatura 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
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
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian: bondefangeri
Polish: oszustwo (pl) n , przekręt (pl) m , szwindel (pl) m
Portuguese: golpe (pt) m , calote (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 (colloquial), engaño (es) m
Swedish: lurendrejeri (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: dolandırma
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
Verb
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( transitive ) To defraud or embezzle .
They tried to scam her out of her savings.
Synonyms
Translations
to defraud or embezzle
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Arabic: اِحْتَالَ ( iḥtāla )
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Catalan: estafar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 欺詐 / 欺诈 (zh) ( qīzhà ) , 欺诈 (zh) ( qīzhà ) , 騙局 / 骗局 (zh) ( piànjú ) , 骗局 (zh) ( piànjú ) , 詐騙 / 诈骗 (zh) ( zhàpiàn ) , 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)
French: entourlouper (fr) , arnaquer (fr)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: betrügen (de)
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Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
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
Portuguese: aplicar um golpe , lograr (pt)
Russian: обма́нывать (ru) ( obmányvatʹ )
Spanish: estafar (es) , timar (es)
Swedish: lura (sv) , scama ( colloquial )
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: please add this translation if you can
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
Anagrams
ACMs , CAMs , CASM , CSMA , M. A. Sc. , M.A.Sc. , MASc , Macs , SMAC , cams , macs , masc , masc.