flimflam

[flim-flam]

noun

1. a trick or deception, especially a swindle or confidence game involving skillful persuasion or clever manipulation of the victim.

2. a piece of nonsense; twaddle; bosh.

verb (used with object)

flimflammed, flimflamming 

1. to trick, deceive, swindle, or cheat.

   A fortuneteller flimflammed her out of her savings.

flimflam

/ ˈflɪmˌflæm /

noun

1. 1. nonsense; foolishness

   2. ( as modifier )

      flimflam arguments

2. a deception; swindle

verb

1. (tr) to deceive; trick; swindle; cheat

Other Word Forms

• flimflammer noun
• flimflammery noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of flimflam¹

First recorded in 1530–40; gradational compound of expressive origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of flimflam¹

C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse flīm mockery, Norwegian flire to giggle

Example Sentences

America was largely founded on greed, exemplified by land-grabs, gold rushes and real estate flimflams, not to mention the institution of slavery.

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He's almost certainly lying about that, of course, but this rhetorical flimflam is still quite revealing.

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When the then-president tried to flimflam him with misleading statistics at one point, Swan replied with precision, detail and follow-up.

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“They were dying off,” Whitehead writes, “the old crooks and hustlers and flimflam artists, or upstate after an ill-advised scheme to cover medical bills or six months’ back pay or new teeth.”

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But in characteristic fashion, she’s refused to acknowledge defeat, filing a lawsuit — since thrown out of court — and widely peddling false claims about voter fraud and other conspiratorial flimflam.

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