scam

See also: skam

English

Etymology

US American carnival slang of uncertain origin. Possibly from scamp (“swindler, cheater”) or Irish cam (“crooked”). Also possibly from Danish skam; if so, it would be a doublet of shame and sham. First use appears c. 1963 in the periodical Time. The word became common use among the US drug culture when in early 1980, after Operation ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation directed at public officials, became public.

Pronunciation

Noun

scam (plural scams)

  1. A fraudulent or dishonest deal. A swindle.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:deception
    That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.
    a scam catches most people with any sense of compassion
  2. Something that is promoted using scams.
    That new diet burger is a scam.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

scam (third-person singular simple present scams, present participle scamming, simple past and past participle scammed)

  1. (ambitransitive) To defraud or embezzle.
    Synonym: con
    They tried to scam her out of her savings.
  2. (slang) To seek out a partner for casual sex; to hit on.
    • 2005, Robert Antoni, Carnival, New York, N.Y.: Black Cat, →ISBN, page 54:
      His friend nudged me. "It's true. JJ only scams black ladies." / "You don't say?" / "J-boy scammed a real live Miss Black Universe once. Met her in a disco down in Honduras. Wearing her title. Since then he's been obsessed."

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

scam

  1. (West Riding) alternative form of schame

Etymology 2

Verb

scam

  1. (West Riding) alternative form of schamen

Middle Irish

Etymology

Attested only in the plural form scaim. From Proto-Celtic *skamos. Cognate with Welsh ysgafn ("light") and Welsh ysgyfaint ("(pair of) lungs"), Breton skañv, Cornish skav.

Noun

scam

  1. lung

References

  • Matasović, R. (2009). Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, p.339. Brill: Boston.
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