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

Threat intelligence from Google in 2026 documented increasingly sophisticated uses of AI in vulnerability research, exploitation and social engineering. — Peter Smulovics, Forbes.com, 12 Nov. 2026

Also Thursday, the FBI blamed North Korea for a separate social engineering scheme that officials say resulted in the theft of $400 million worth of cryptocurrency over the last 18 months. — ABC News, 12 Nov. 2026

The hackers who stole billions of dollars in cryptocurrency from the Binance exchange spent months working on the theft and used both social engineering and novel malware in the process, the company said Tuesday. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 4 Nov. 2026

These types of harms could include defamation, bias, deceit and social engineering and much more. — Anat Lior, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 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