ripoff

Or rip-off

[rip-awf, -of]

noun

Slang.

1. an act or instance of ripping off another or others; a theft, cheat, or swindle.

2. exploitation, especially of those who cannot prevent or counter it.

3. a copy or imitation.

4. a person who rips off another or others; thief or swindler.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ripoff¹

First recorded in 1965–70; noun use of verb phrase rip off

Example Sentences

The film can’t shake its lingering scent of “Stranger Things,” but the filmmakers have also turned for inspiration to another iconic ’80s-set property: The whole movie is a “Nightmare on Elm Street” ripoff, with a disfigured killer stalking his prey through their subconscious.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

At every turn, he's relied heavily on technologies developed because of the very federal largess he now deems a "ripoff."

Read more on Salon

To defend this, Musk claims it's a "ripoff" when grant funding goes to pay for salaries, lab space and equipment, even though no one can conduct scientific research without these baseline necessities.

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"Can you believe that universities with tens of billions in endowments were siphoning off 60% of research award money for 'overhead'?" Musk wrote on X. "What a ripoff!"

Read more on BBC

He called the paper a shill for the "tariff lobby" and "always wrong" before saying that two of our biggest trade partners had been engaging in a "decades-long ripoff of America" prior to the tariffs he ordered on Saturday.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• rip-off 
• swindle