Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [skam]
- /skæm/
- /skæm/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [skam]
- /skæm/
Definitions of scam word
- noun scam a confidence game or other fraudulent scheme, especially for making a quick profit; swindle. 1
- verb with object scam to cheat or defraud with a scam. 1
- noun scam fraud 1
- transitive verb scam defraud 1
- countable noun scam A scam is an illegal trick, usually with the purpose of getting money from people or avoiding paying tax. 0
- noun scam a stratagem for gain; a swindle 0
Information block about the term
Origin of scam
First appearance:
before 1960 One of the 3% newest English words
1960-65; orig. carnival argot; of obscure origin
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Scam
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
scam popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 84% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
scam usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for scam
noun scam
- artifice — Artifice is the clever use of tricks and devices.
- bait and switch — Bait and switch is used to refer to a sales technique in which goods are advertised at low prices in order to attract customers, although only a small number of the low-priced goods are available.
- barratry — (formerly) the vexatious stirring up of quarrels or bringing of lawsuits
- bunco — a swindle, esp one by confidence tricksters
- cheat — When someone cheats, they do not obey a set of rules which they should be obeying, for example in a game or exam.
verb scam
- beat around the bush — to talk around a subject without getting to the point
- beguile — If something beguiles you, you are charmed and attracted by it.
- bend the rules — to ignore rules or change them to suit one's own convenience
- buffalo — A buffalo is a wild animal like a large cow with horns that curve upwards. Buffalo are usually found in southern and eastern Africa.
- buffaloed — any of several large wild oxen of the family Bovidae. Compare bison, Cape buffalo, water buffalo.
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