Ponzi

[pon-zee] / ˈpɒn zi /

NOUN

confidence game

Synonyms

WEAK

bait and switch boiler room bunco game bunko con con game confidence trick flimflam hustle racket ripoff shell game skin game sting swindle

NOUN

con game

Synonyms

WEAK

bait and switch boiler room bunco game bunko con con job confidence trick flimflam hustle racket ripoff shell game skin game sting swindle

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Philip Wu, a Chicago-based enrolled agent with the IRS who prepares taxes for clients, tells of a client who was victimized by a Ponzi scheme and lost a bundle.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026

In February, five people in a cattle business were indicted for an alleged $220 million Ponzi scheme.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026

Now, amid suits and countersuits among the lender bank, investors, a bankruptcy trustee and McClain’s family, details of the alleged Ponzi scheme are coming out.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026

However, Bernie Madoff was a fiduciary, and he violated the trust of his clients in a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

They had the essential feature of a Ponzi scheme: To maintain the fiction that they were profitable enterprises, they needed more and more capital to create more and more subprime loans.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Ponzi

Example Sentences

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