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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.

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

How do I know that my money is safe with my financial adviser and feel sure they are not running a Madoff-type Ponzi scheme?

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

And Weizhen Tang, who calls himself a “Chinese Warren Buffett” in a LinkedIn profile, was convicted in 2013 of defrauding customers in a $50 million Ponzi scheme.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Ponzi bounced between con job and jail, dying broke.

From Barron's • Mar. 1, 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

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.