as in cheated
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
hundreds of people were swindled out of their savings, and all they had to show for it were fake land deeds
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Recent Examples of swindled
You might be swindled or lied to.
—
Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 18 Sep. 2025
Following the 2022 raid, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a forfeiture motion for almost $150,000, claiming the church and its Bible seminary swindled hundreds of military members out of more than $22 million.
—Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 14 Sep. 2025
So if you have been swindled, don't be embarrassed.
—Frank Witsil, Freep.com, 5 Sep. 2025
And in another, the consumer watchdog agency is returning money to almost 1,000 homeowners swindled by door-to-door contractors pitching a home improvement financing scam.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 29 Aug. 2025
There are telltale signs that something is fishy — and ways to reduce your chances of being swindled.
—Sarah Hutter, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2025
Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 18 Sep. 2025
Following the 2022 raid, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a forfeiture motion for almost $150,000, claiming the church and its Bible seminary swindled hundreds of military members out of more than $22 million.
—Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 14 Sep. 2025
So if you have been swindled, don't be embarrassed.
—Frank Witsil, Freep.com, 5 Sep. 2025
And in another, the consumer watchdog agency is returning money to almost 1,000 homeowners swindled by door-to-door contractors pitching a home improvement financing scam.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 29 Aug. 2025
There are telltale signs that something is fishy — and ways to reduce your chances of being swindled.
—Sarah Hutter, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swindled
Verb
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Passed over to his hapless son (Dacre Montgomery), our (anti-)hero wires a shotgun to his head and takes him hostage, claiming that the organization’s business maneuvers cheated him out of a substantial fortune.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
5 Sep. 2025
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The woman lives alone, AFP added, citing local media outlets, and was ultimately cheated out of approximately 1 million yen, or about $6,700.—
Jillian Frankel,
PEOPLE,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Congressional Democrats feel stung by the mass layoffs and program cuts that followed the last stopgap spending deal in March.—
Ronald J. Hansen,
AZCentral.com,
25 Sep. 2025
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At a family gathering in Huntsville, Alabama, I was stung by the divisive image on my 16-year-old relative’s T-shirt.—
Sabrina S. Fu,
Twin Cities,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Ortega, 22, hit the red carpet in a look plucked straight from Givenchy's runway show, which featured several oversized jewels that draped against her chest and upper body.—
Starr Bowenbank,
PEOPLE,
24 Sep. 2025
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You got plucked from obscurity to do this project.—
Chris Lee,
Vulture,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Agents grabbed one man who appeared to be charging up the driveway, pinned him to the ground and hustled him behind the gate with his hands behind his back.—
Caroline Kubzansky,
Boston Herald,
19 Sep. 2025
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Farnaz Farjam, one of the show’s executive producers, told Deadline that the production hustled to find a way to capture all three elements.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
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At those rates, without a significant change in policy or health care costs, the general fund would be squeezed to nearly nothing in the next 15 years, according to an analysis by the governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting.—
Nick Coltrain,
Denver Post,
22 Sep. 2025
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During the presidency of Richard Nixon, public servants at the DOJ felt squeezed between what the president wanted and what the law required.—
Carrie Johnson,
NPR,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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And then everyone else beyond those 35 million people also get screwed, because when all of that money gets pulled out of the health care system, prices go up for everyone, hospitals close.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
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And also just seeing and showing to folks that this corruption shows up in the bills that are passed that are then creating loopholes for special interests while you're getting screwed.—
Jason Lemon,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Still, defrauded Coloradans routinely lost thousands of dollars in these schemes.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
22 Sep. 2025
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Feeding Our Future defrauded the government of $250 million in federal funds from a pandemic-era meal program.—
Alex Derosier,
Twin Cities,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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If a player is left in a room, they will be stuck there, losing a point each round, until another player returns to the room to release them.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
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That relevance has stuck in Kansas City three weeks later.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Swindled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swindled. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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