swindle

verb swin·dle \ ˈswin-dᵊl \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: swindle in a Sentence

Definition of swindle

swindled; swindling play \ˈswin(d)-liŋ, ˈswin-dᵊl-iŋ\

intransitive verb

: to obtain money or property by fraud or deceit

transitive verb

: to take money or property from by fraud or deceit

—

swindler

play \ˈswin(d)-lər, ˈswin-dᵊl-ər\ noun

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Examples of swindle in a Sentence

hundreds of people were swindled out of their savings, and all they had to show for it were fake land deeds

Recent Examples of swindle from the Web

Among other things, Mechler points to federal accusations against Dickey that he and a business partner swindled investors out of millions of dollars while managing a hedge fund years ago in Dallas.

— scott braddock, Houston Chronicle, "Censure of Speaker Straus a major flashpoint in race to lead the Republican Party of Texas," 31 May 2018
Then there’s the question of whether Iran, feeling swindled on a deal the U.S. itself brokered, would take other steps to retaliate — such as ballistic missile tests or more support for militant groups abroad.

— Washington Post, "Complex choices await world if Trump exits Iran nuclear deal," 4 May 2018
Shortly after Trump won the presidential election, a man by the name of Michael Ruiz impersonated an ICE officer and swindled immigrants in South Carolina out of roughly $70,000.

— ruben vives, latimes.com, "Fontana man sent to prison for posing as an immigration officer," 26 May 2018
Entertainment, alleging that unscrupulous business partners took advantage of his declining eyesight in order to swindle him.

— NBC News, "Comic book icon Stan Lee files billion-dollar suit against Pow! Entertainment," 16 May 2018
George French Jones, the smooth-talking con man who swindled celebrities and sports figures with lures of Miami Heat season tickets, was a fugitive for five months.

— david ovalle, miamiherald, "He scammed celebrities with phantom Heat tickets. As a fugitive, he kept running scams | Miami Herald," 15 May 2018
In court documents, Atul Gupta has denied swindling money from a dairy farm.

— Bloomberg.com, "How South Africa Is Cleaning House After Zuma’s Eviction," 21 Apr. 2018
The couple, who ran a company called Memorial Design Concepts, was accused of swindling 34 families out of $64,000 for the monuments, FOX46 Charlotte reported.

— stephen sorace, Fox News, "Couple charged in gravestone scam took $64G from grieving families, police say," 7 Apr. 2018
Many banks are on the brink of insolvency, in part because of pyramid schemes that swindled millions of poor Iranians.

— The Economist, "Mullahs rig the price of moolah in Iran," 21 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'swindle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of swindle

back-formation from swindler, from German Schwindler giddy person, from schwindeln to be dizzy, from Old High German swintilōn, frequentative of swintan to diminish, vanish; akin to Old English swindan to vanish

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1782

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

See Words from the same year

swindle Synonyms

Synonyms

beat, bilk, bleed, cheat, chisel, con, cozen, defraud, do, do in, fiddle, fleece, flimflam, gaff, gyp, hustle, mulct, pluck, ream, rip off, rook, screw, shake down, short, shortchange, skin, squeeze, stick, stiff, sting, victimize;

Related Words

extort, wrench, wrest, wring;

clip, gouge, nick, overcharge, soak;

exploit, milk;

deceive, dupe, fool, gull, trick;

rope (in);

betray, double-cross;

bamboozle, fast-talk;

Phrases

sell a bill of goods to, take for a ride, take to the cleaners;

Synonym Discussion of swindle

cheat, cozen, defraud, swindle mean to get something by dishonesty or deception. cheat suggests using trickery that escapes observation.

- cheated me out of a dollar

cozen implies artful persuading or flattering to attain a thing or a purpose.

- always able to cozen her grandfather out of a few dollars

defraud stresses depriving one of his or her rights and usually connotes deliberate perversion of the truth.

- defrauded of her inheritance by an unscrupulous lawyer

swindle implies large-scale cheating by misrepresentation or abuse of confidence.

- swindled of their savings by con artists

swindle

noun

Definition of swindle

: an act or instance of swindling : fraud

Examples of swindle in a Sentence

a swindle that involved selling a lot of land that really didn't exist
identity theft has become one of the most frequent and feared swindles of our time