swindle
Americanverb (used with object)
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swindles,
present (3rd person singular)
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swindled,
past participle, past
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swindling
present participle
verb (used without object)
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swindles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swindled,
past participle, past
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swindling
present participle
noun
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swindles
plural
-
an act of swindling or a fraudulent transaction or scheme.
-
anything deceptive; a fraud.
This advertisement is a real swindle.
verb
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to cheat (someone) of money, etc; defraud
-
(tr) to obtain (money, etc) by fraud
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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swindlesimple
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swindlessimple
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have swindledperfect
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has swindledperfect
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am swindlingprogressive
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are swindlingprogressive
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is swindlingprogressive
-
have been swindlingperfect progressive
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has been swindlingperfect progressive
Past
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swindledsimple
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had swindledperfect
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was swindlingprogressive
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were swindlingprogressive
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had been swindlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swindle
First recorded in 1775–85; back formation from swindler ( def. )
Explanation
To swindle is to cheat or steal. You can swindle money, goods, ideas, and anything else that can be stolen, but be careful, because someone can also swindle you. In the late 1700s, the verb swindle formed from swindler, which means “giddy person, cheat.” Swindle can be a noun or a verb. When you get something by less than honest means, that’s a swindle. A successful act of swindle often involves some scheme or rigging of the system. Hollywood loves a good swindle — think of all the movies that show a bank robbery or people lying about who they are. Another funny word for swindle is bamboozle.
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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.
See Examples For:
Finance professionals, doctors and lawyers recount being taken in by tricks like the jury-duty swindle that stole $25,000 from a Florida woman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The use of artificial intelligence has only made the swindle easier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said criminals will constantly change how they present scams to lure people in and swindle them.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2024
That fuelled speculation in Zambian media that some of the suspects might have sought to swindle gold buyers in a fake bullion scam.
From Reuters ● Aug. 30, 2023
He was filled with embarrassment: embarrassment for the human race, its preoccupation with money, its love of swindle.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Americans are awash in scams, and while some swindles originate overseas, they are increasingly coming from closer to home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Then Hek recites all the weak points in our logical firewalls that allow conspiracies and swindles to find purchase: Fake news.
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2025
Draghi said it had not only spawned swindles but had also driven up costs because clients, knowing they would be reimbursed, had no need to bargain with builders over prices.
From Reuters ● Jun. 22, 2022
Her self-improvement plan dated back to Ben Franklin but found its most indelible expression in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s creation of Jay Gatsby, the mysterious, alluring, handsome millionaire who also ran a few swindles.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 4, 2022
The records show that the principal beneficiaries of these swindles were some of the most conspicuous planters, mercantile firms and politicians in the South.
From History of the Great American Fortunes, Vol. I Conditions in Settlement and Colonial Times by Myers Gustavus
But voters weren’t about to get swindled again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
Being considered is Musk's claim that Altman - with whom he founded OpenAI - has swindled him out of millions of dollars and reneged on the ChatGPT-maker's original non-profit mission.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
A Philippine congressional committee rejected impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos on Wednesday over allegations he swindled taxpayers out of billions of dollars.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
Gentile, she added, “basically pulled a Bernie Madoff and swindled people out of their money, and then he gets to go home to his wife and kids.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2025
In Philadelphia Holmes had swindled the Fidelity Mutual Life Association of nearly $10,000 by apparently faking the death of a policyholder, Ben Pitezel.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Timothy Barnes was not targeting strangers when he set about swindling people out of nearly £2m - these were his friends and neighbours.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
The company argued attorneys were swindling their own clients, inflating medical bills of car crash victims to increase the value of the settlement and then pocketing a hefty chunk of the payouts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
The 33-year-old fintech entrepreneur last month was sentenced to seven years in prison for swindling JPMorganChase, which purchased her student financial-aid startup in 2021 for $175 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2025
He invoked a past prosperity, but his actual plans are to make a fortune by swindling the rest of us.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2025
The only person they could ask about the painting was Valfierno himself, the person swindling them.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
