bunco

noun

bun·​co ˈbəŋ-(ˌ)kō 

variants or bunko

plural buncos or bunkos

: a swindling game or scheme

bunco transitive verb

Synonyms

• con
• fiddle [chiefly British]
• flimflam
• fraud
• hustle
• scam
• shell game
• sting
• swindle

Examples of bunco in a Sentence

they were experts at that bunco, having fleeced wide-eyed tourists for years

Recent Examples on the Web

There will be bunco games, prizes and refreshments. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Mar. 2025

There will be bunco games, raffles and refreshments. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2025

There have been bunco parties, Ice Queen birthday parties, and whatever the hell NeNe’s Girls & Gays Never Forget All-White Party Seafood Soirée was. —Brian Moylan, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2024

The event includes bunco, a silent auction and barbecue lunch. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024

The tragedy also strengthened community bonds, with families who didn’t lose homes hosting families that did for weeks at a time, and bunco and happy hour groups forming among new friends who had barely known each other before the blaze. —David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Oct. 2023

Women’s club hosting bunco fundraisers The Sweetwater Women’s Club hosts bunco from 1 to 3:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month, starting Aug. 8, at 3855 Sweetwater Road. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Aug. 2023

Women’s Club hosting bunco fundraisers The Sweetwater Women’s Club hosts bunco from 1 to 3:30 p.m. monthly on the second Tuesday of the month starting Aug. 8 at 3855 Sweetwater Road, Bonita. —Laura Groch, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 July 2023

By nightfall, there was just one activity left on the agenda: a game of bunco. —New York Times, 12 Feb. 2021

Word History

Etymology

perhaps alteration of Spanish banca bench, banking, bank in gambling, from Italian — more at bank

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bunco

• junco