flimflams 1 of 2

noun

plural of flimflam
1
as in ruses
a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end giving the new guy at work her cell phone number—"in case of an emergency"—was just a flimflam to pique his romantic interest

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in scams
an instance of the use of dishonest methods to acquire something of value just the latest Internet flimflam to get e-mail recipients to reveal bank account numbers and other personal information

Synonyms & Similar Words

flimflams

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of flimflam
as in cheats
to rob by the use of trickery or threats everyone likes to think that they're too smart to be flimflammed by anyone

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for flimflams
  1. ruses
  2. scams
  3. cheats
  4. schemes
  5. frauds
  6. squeezes
  7. devices
  8. stings
Noun
  • Even before pro-party AI ruses were possible, the Chinese government and its supporters flooded social media with pro-China propaganda and vicious attacks on critics.
    — Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026
  • Such offenders will use all different ruses to distract the victim, such as claiming to be utility workers, tree trimmers, or handymen working on neighbors' houses.
    — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 30 June 2026
Definition of ruses
Noun
  • Older adults are particularly vulnerable to identity theft and other scams and are often advised to ignore junk mail and calls from telemarketers.
    — Susan Jaffe, NPR, 6 July 2026
  • Online dating scams often involve someone building trust over time before requesting money, financial assistance, gift cards, or personal financial information.
    — Matthew Kayser Updated July 6, Miami Herald, 6 July 2026
Definition of scams
Verb
  • Any forward who cheats for defence, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has for much of his career, will play an elevated role on a Babcock team.
    — Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 26 June 2026
  • Though Lesnar rarely cheats to win, Femi isn’t going to lose clean.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
Definition of cheats
Noun
  • Its cases target schemes including false country-of-origin declarations, misclassified goods, and the routing of products through third countries to evade tariffs.
    — Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 14 July 2026
  • Soon after Rhaenyra executes Otto Hightower, who was once mastermind of that family’s schemes, Ormund steps up to be the faction’s new heavy.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 13 July 2026
Definition of schemes
Noun
  • Lowry, in the meantime, would embark on a two-decade career in a league that spits out frauds on the regular.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 8 July 2026
  • Their only inheritance is a legacy of two-bit crime that inspires them to run increasingly audacious frauds.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 25 June 2026
Definition of frauds
Verb
  • As a result, food inflation squeezes the amount of money people have left over to buy things like Levi's jeans and plane tickets, which brings us to our next earnings preview.
    — Zev Fima,Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 5 July 2026
  • One of our favorite budget models on the market right now is HP's OmniBook X Flip, which squeezes every bit of performance out of its components to deliver capable everyday productivity performance in a good-looking package.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 3 July 2026
Definition of squeezes
Noun
  • Grab bars — rails attached to walls, particularly in bathrooms — help provide balance and prevent falls, preventing serious injuries, said Jim Christian, founder of the effort to push Medicare to cover the devices, Safety Bars for America.
    — Panashe Matemba-Mutasa, Mercury News, 13 July 2026
  • Both the Russian and Chinese governments have been compromising routers for years, sometimes in prolonged tugs-of-war to wrest control of devices the other has already commandeered.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 13 July 2026
Definition of devices
Verb
  • If feedback stings, take a breath, separate taste from task, and keep what improves the result.
    — Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 28 June 2026
  • For Martin, that statement still stings.
    — John Annese, New York Daily News, 27 June 2026
Definition of stings
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.

Browse Nearby Words

flimflamming
flimflams
flimsiness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Flimflams.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flimflams. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of obdurate

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All