scam C2+ Topic:Money & Finance US /skæm/ UK /skæm/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a dishonest scheme to cheat someone of money or trust The email turned out to be a scam designed to steal passwords. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a dishonest scheme to cheat... fraudswindleconrackethoaxcheatruse Word family Derived forms scammerscamming Etymology AI details Origin uncertain; American slang of the mid-20th century, perhaps related to the British dialect word scamp ('to cheat, swindle'). Topics Money & Finance External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # scam **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /skæm/ **IPA (UK):** /skæm/ ## Meanings 1. a dishonest scheme to cheat someone of money or trust ## Examples - The email turned out to be a scam designed to steal passwords. ## Synonyms - fraud - swindle - con - racket - hoax - cheat - ruse ## Derived Forms - scammer - scamming ## Etymology Origin uncertain; American slang of the mid-20th century, perhaps related to the British dialect word scamp ('to cheat, swindle'). ## AI Etymology Scam is from origin uncertain; American slang of the mid-20th century, perhaps related to the British dialect word scamp ('to cheat, swindle'). Older glosses in the chain include "to cheat, swindle", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, scam is best read as uncertain formation, yielding an English noun and verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and verb, with the sense "a dishonest scheme to cheat someone of money or trust". English derivatives include scammer and scamming. The result is an English noun and verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning. ## Topics - Money & Finance markdown