scam

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

• enPR: skăm, IPA^(key): /skæm/
• Rhymes: -æm

Noun

scam (plural scams)

1. A fraudulent deal.

   That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.

2. Something that is promoted using scams.

   That car was a scam.

Synonyms

• con game, confidence trick, swindle
• See also Thesaurus:deception

Coordinate terms

• take for a ride

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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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

1. (transitive) To defraud or embezzle.

   They tried to scam her out of her savings.

Synonyms

• con

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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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.