fraud

1 an instance of the use of dishonest methods to acquire something of value thousands of people lost money when the investment scheme turned out to be a fraud Synonyms bunco (or bunko), con, fiddle [chiefly British], flimflam, gyp, hustle, scam, shell game, sting, swindle Related Words cross, fix; Ponzi scheme, pyramid scheme; racket, rip-off; thimblerig, three-card monte; device, dodge, gimmick, jig, ploy, scheme, sleight, stratagem, trick, wile; gouging, overcharging, soaking; counterfeit, fake, forgery, hoax, humbug, phony (also phoney), sham

2 one who makes false claims of identity or expertise the “blind” panhandler was just a fraud trying to con holiday shoppers out of their money Synonyms charlatan, fake, faker, fakir, impostor, hoaxer, humbug, mountebank, phony (also phoney), pretender, quack, quacksalver, ringer, shamRelated Words copycat, imitator, impersonator, mimic; actor, bluffer, counterfeiter, deceiver, dissembler, duper, feigner, misleader, operator, trickster; poseur; cozener, defrauder, dodger, fraudster [chiefly British], scammer, scamster, sharper, sharpie (or sharpy), skinner, swindlerNear Antonyms ace, adept, authority, crackerjack (also crackajack), expert, maestro, master, past master, professional, virtuoso, whiz, wizard

3 the inclination or practice of misleading others through lies or trickery charges that he had gained control of his elderly mother's estate by fraud Synonyms artifice, cheating, cozenage, craft, craftiness, crookedness, crookery, cunning, cunningness, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissembling, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, fakery, foxiness, deceit, guile, guilefulness, wilinessRelated Words equivocation, lying, mendacity, prevarication; chicane, chicanery, fraudulence, hanky-panky, jugglery, legerdemain, mountebankery, obliquity, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery, wile; falsehood, falsity, fib, untruth; hypocrisy, insincerity, sanctimoniousness, two-facedness; artfulness, caginess (also cageyness), deviousness, shrewdness; treacherousness, underhandedness, unscrupulousness; covertness, furtiveness, secrecy, shadiness, sneakiness, stealthiness; oiliness, shiftiness, slickness, slipperiness, slyness, smoothnessNear Antonyms candidness, candor, directness, frankness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness; honesty, probity; dependability, reliability, reliableness, solidity, trustability, trustiness, trustworthiness; decency, goodness, incorruptibility, integrity, righteousness, truthfulness, uprightness, virtuousnessAntonyms artlessness, forthrightness, good faith, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity