swindle

1 of 2

verb

swin·​dle ˈswin-dᵊl 

swindled; swindling ˈswin-dᵊl-iŋ 

ˈswin(d)-liŋ

intransitive verb

: to obtain money or property by fraud or deceit

transitive verb

: to take money or property from by fraud or deceit

swindler

ˈswin-dᵊl-ər 

ˈswin(d)-lər

noun

swindle

2 of 2

noun

: an act or instance of swindling : fraud

Synonyms

Verb

• beat
• bilk
• bleed
• cheat
• chisel
• chouse
• con
• cozen
• defraud
• diddle
• do
• do in
• euchre
• fiddle
• fleece
• flimflam
• gaff
• hose [slang]
• hustle
• mulct
• nobble [British slang]
• pluck
• ream
• rip off
• rook
• screw
• shake down
• short
• shortchange
• skin
• skunk
• squeeze
• stick
• stiff
• sting
• sucker
• thimblerig
• victimize

Noun

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

Choose the Right Synonym for 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

Examples of swindle in a Sentence

Verb

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

Noun

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The fraudster, who in 2019 was convicted of posing as a German heiress and swindling members of the New York art scene, has parlayed her career as a felon into a popular Netflix show, a podcast, and a burgeoning art career, despite not having any apparent talent whatsoever. —Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2024

California also had the highest losses, with nearly $1.2 billion swindled. —Chris Morris, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2024

Noun

After winning an election marred by intimidation and manipulation of the voter rolls, among other electoral swindles, Mugabe’s government reverted to its default setting and embarked on a reckless spending spree that swelled the budget deficit to 25 percent of GDP. —Tendai Biti, Foreign Affairs, 20 Aug. 2019

Later Clark was asked if a salad oil swindle every few years might be a clever idea. —Phil Wahba, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

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

First Known Use

Verb

1773, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun

1778, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

swindle

1 of 2 verb

swin·​dle ˈswin-dᵊl 

swindled; swindling -(d)liŋ 

-dᵊl-iŋ

: to get money or property from by dishonest means : cheat

swindler

-(d)lər 

-dᵊl-ər

noun

swindle

2 of 2 noun

: an act or instance of swindling : fraud