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
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an act of swindling or a fraudulent transaction or scheme.
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anything deceptive; a fraud.
This advertisement is a real swindle.
verb
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to cheat (someone) of money, etc; defraud
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(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
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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.
Vocabulary lists containing swindle
Tricky Terms for April Fool's Day
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A Streetcar Named Desire
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The Distance Between Us
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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:
And while they concede that seniors may be more frequently targeted online than those younger, that, too, is based on a false assumption—that their age will make them easier to swindle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
Purlie has a con artist’s cheek, but he’s trying to swindle on behalf of his community.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
"With so many people seeking properties online, scammers will look for opportunities to take advantage and swindle people out of their money," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2023
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
In addition, the researchers found that scammers were creating fake profiles on Facebook so they could run weight-loss-drug swindles there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2024
This also speaks to the hollowness that all ideological language contains, to paraphrase Orwell, in its swindles and perversions, its slovenliness and vagueness.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2023
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
Every day I heard of the swindles as well as of the sewerage.
From The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol. 2 by Harry Furniss
But voters weren’t about to get swindled again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
“I would never use the word swindled, but the context — yes, I have said that,” Bianco said after some back-and-forth about the particulars of his criticisms.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
A man has been charged in an investigation into Oasis fans being swindled out of thousands of pounds for fake tickets.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 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
“And I skimmed, perhaps, over the details of Lateef’s ring. But by my soul, and by your beards, I’m sorry. Let him who has not swindled a little throw the first stone.”
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
In August, a St. Louis man was convicted of swindling $200,000 from Kohl’s, according to the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Missouri.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025
By the time he was arrested at his Manhattan penthouse in 2008, he had been swindling customers for decades through his wealth management firm.
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2024
National Police chief Yasuhiro Tsuyuki, at a meeting Monday of top prefectural criminal investigators, said “tokuryu” have been part of surging cases of swindling via social media and have become a “serious concern.”
From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2024
A Canadian conman has been jailed for 10 years for swindling tens of millions of dollars from more than a million Americans by claiming to be a psychic.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2024
A Greek from the delta trading center of Nau- cratis, Cleomenes was an ambiguous Boss Tweed-like figure, chiefly remembered for swindling Egyptians and Greeks alike of enormous sums of money.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
Definitions 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.
