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.
-
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:
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 problem was she was making plans not with “General Hospital” star Steve Burton, but with a scammer who intended not to romance her, but to swindle her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
"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
“It’s done. Buster said it out loud, and nearly every human in the system heard him say it. ‘Mercerism is a swindle.’
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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
For more guidance, the Federal Trade Commission offers tips for how to avoid charity swindles, including Giving Tuesday scams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2022
"Inflation swindles the bond investor ... it swindles the person who keeps their cash under their mattress, it swindles almost everybody," Buffett said.
From Reuters ● Apr. 30, 2022
They figure in divorce suits, in financial swindles and occasionally in more serious cases.
From The Green Rust by Edgar Wallace
But voters weren’t about to get swindled again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
“You’ve called Hilton unethical and dishonest and said that he swindled his way into the Republican side,” Collins said, citing an article from the Atlantic.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
The government warned about the dangers of crypto and broke up several huge scam operations, including one that allegedly swindled nearly $400 million from thousands of investors.
From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026
They wanted to be a voice for the pet owners swindled by Britton, most of whom are still too traumatised and guilt-ridden to speak out, as well as a visible symbol of the community’s horror.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2024
Kaz wasn’t a boy any longer; there was no reason Pekka should be able to see the child he’d swindled in his features.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Residents have been receiving troubling calls from people pretending to be their grandchildren, swindling them out of thousands of dollars.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
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
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.
