pyramid scheme

noun

Synonyms of pyramid schemenext
: a usually illegal operation in which participants pay to join and profit mainly from payments made by subsequent participants

Examples of pyramid scheme in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Consumers were then recruited to join a pyramid scheme that sold credit repair services to others, costing them millions. Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026 There’s, in fact, a lot of narrative chaos in the movie’s last third, from a pyramid scheme that ruins Junyang’s professional ego to the fact that Lydia, once she’s given birth, is basically cut out of the picture. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 16 Feb. 2026 Traffickers charge high fees and force victims to recruit friends and family in exchange for improved conditions, furthering a pyramid scheme model, Interpol said. Ope Adetayo, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026 This included a new pyramid scheme, so to speak, that flipped the longstanding traditional food pyramid upside down, point downwards— seemingly to make a new point. Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pyramid scheme

Word History

First Known Use

1949, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pyramid scheme was in 1949

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pyramid scheme.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pyramid%20scheme. Accessed 29 Mar. 2026.

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