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Ponzi scheme

British

/ ˈpɒnzɪ /

noun

a fraudulent investment operation that pays quick returns to initial contributors using money from subsequent contributors rather than profit

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Ponzi scheme

After Charles Ponzi , who famously perpetrated such a scheme in the United States of America in the early 20th century

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.

The cattle empire that turned out to be a giant Ponzi scheme.

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

To build confidence, it isn’t just about going after a Ponzi scheme, which we all agree we have to go after.

From Barron's • Apr. 18, 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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023