social engineering

noun

1

: management of human beings in accordance with their place and function in society : applied social science

2

: social methods (such as phishing) that are used to obtain personal or confidential information which can then be used illicitly

The previously noted trend of switching from social engineering to hacking methods in attacks on organizations strengthened …

—San Fernando Valley (California) Business Journal

social engineer noun

plural social engineers

Examples of social engineering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Limits Of Vendor Defenses In December 2025, OpenAI acknowledged publicly that prompt injection, like scams and social engineering, is unlikely to ever be fully solved. — Janakiram Msv, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026

There are also more nebulous items, including advice to beware of social engineering. — Neil J. Rubenking, PC Magazine, 24 June 2026

Public travel updates may increase risks of burglary, phishing schemes, social engineering scams, and privacy breaches. — Iona Brannon, Travel + Leisure, 19 June 2026

ShinyHunters uses various techniques to gain initial access, including exploiting cloud misconfigurations and software vulnerabilities, stealing OAuth tokens, supply chain attacks, voice phishing, and other forms of social engineering. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 12 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for social engineering

• bioengineering
• adhering
• appearing
• careering
• cohering
• endearing
• inhering
• prehearing
• rehearing
• veneering
• cheering
• clearing

Kids Definition

social engineering

noun

1

: management of human beings in accordance with their place and function in society : applied social science

2

: social methods (such as phishing) that are used to obtain personal or confidential information which can then be used illicitly