| Main Entry: | scam |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | swindle |
Synonyms: |
blackmail, cheating, con, con game, crooked deal, deceit, deception, dirty pool, double-cross, double-dealing, extortion, fast one, flimflam, fraud, hoax, hosing, hustle, racket, rip-off, shady deal, shakedown, sham, shell game, snow job, sting, sucker game |
| Main Entry: | artifice |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | hoax; clever act |
Synonyms: |
con, contrivance, device, dodge, expedient, gambit, gimmick, machination, maneuver, play, ploy, racket, ruse, savvy, scam*, stratagem, subterfuge, tactic, wile |
Antonyms: |
candor, frankness, honesty, honor, ingenuousness, innocence, openness, reality, sincerity, truthfulness |
| Main Entry: | beguile |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | fool |
Synonyms: |
betray, bluff, burn*, cheat, chisel, con, deceive, delude, double-cross, dupe, entice, exploit, finesse, flimflam, gyp, have, hoodwink*, impose on, jockey, juggle, lure, manipulate, mislead, play, play for a sucker, rook, rope in, scam, seduce, shave, snow*, stick*, string along, suck in, take, take in, trick |
| Main Entry: | cheat |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | trick |
Synonyms: |
artifice, baloney, bamboozlement, bill of goods, bunco, chicanery, con, con game, cover up, cozening, deceit, deception, dirty pool, dirty trick, dodge, double-dealing, fake, fast one, fast shuffle, fix, flimflam, frame, fraud, gyp, hanky-panky, hoax, hoaxing, humbug, hustle, imposture, jazz, jive, plant, put-on, racket, rip-off, run around, scam, sell, shady deal, sham, shell game, snow job, spoof, sting, stunt, swindle, trickery, whitewash, wrong |
| Main Entry: | cheat |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | defraud, fool |
Synonyms: |
bamboozle*, beat, beguile, bilk, bleed, bunco, burn, caboodle, chisel, con, cozen, crib, cross, deceive, defraud, delude, diddle, do a number on, do*, double-cross, double-deal, dupe, fast talk, finagle, fleece, flimflam, fudge, give bum steer, gouge, gyp, hoodwink, hose, jerk around, milk, mislead, pull one's leg, ream, rip off, rook, rope in, sandbag, scam, screw, shaft, short, shuck, skin, snow, stiff, sucker, swindle, take, take for a ride, take in, take out, trick, trim, two-time, victimize |
| Main Entry: | collusion |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | secret understanding, often with intent to defraud |
Synonyms: |
bait and switch, bill of goods, bunco, cahoots, complicity, con game, connivance, conspiracy, craft, deceit, diddling, dodge, double-cross, fast shuffle, flam, flimflam, fradulent artifice, graft, guilt, guiltiness, gyp, intrigue, plot, racket, scam, scheme, shell game, skunk, sting*, trick, whitewash |
| Notes: | cooperation is always positive, collaboration is positive except in wartime (working with the enemy), and collusion is always negative (working together in secret for a dishonest purpose) |
| Main Entry: | deceive |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | mislead; be dishonest |
Synonyms: |
bamboozle*, beat, beat out of, beguile, betray, bilk, buffalo, burn, cheat, circumvent, clip, con, cozen, cross up, defraud, delude, disappoint, double-cross, dupe, ensnare, entrap, fake, falsify, fleece, fool, gouge, gull, hoax, hoodwink, hook*, humbug, impose upon, lead on, outwit, play joke on, pull fast one, put on, rob, scam, screw, sell, skin, suck in, swindle, take advantage of, take for, take for ride, take in, take to cleaners, trick, victimize |
Antonyms: |
be honest |
| Main Entry: | deception |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | trick |
Synonyms: |
artifice, bilk, bluff, catch, cheat, chicane, con, con game, confidence game, cover-up, crock, decoy, device, dodge, fallacy, fast one, fast shuffle, feint, fib, fraud, gimmick, hoax, hogwash, hustle, illusion, imposture, jive, lie, malarkey, mare's-nest, pretext, ride*, ruse, scam, sham, shift, shuck, snare, snow job, stall, sting, story, stratagem, subterfuge, swindle, trap, trick, whitewash, wile, wrinkle |
| Main Entry: | distort |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | deform; falsify |
Synonyms: |
alter, angle, belie, bend, bias, buckle, change, collapse, color, con, contort, crush, curve, deceive, decline, deteriorate, deviate, disfigure, doctor*, fake, fudge, garble, gnarl, knot, lie, make out like, mangle, melt, misconstrue, misinterpret, misrepresent, misshape, pervert, phony up, put one on, sag, scam*, slant, slump, snow*, torture, trump up, twist, warp, whitewash, wind, wrench, writhe |
Antonyms: |
beautify, shape nicely, straight |
| Main Entry: | double-cross |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | to deceive or betray someone |
Synonyms: |
beguile, betray, bluff, cheat, con, cross, deceive, defraud, double deal, dupe, four-flush, hoodwink*, humbug, illude, juggle, mislead, scam, sell, sell down the river, sell out, sell out, split, stab in the back, swindle, take in, trick, two-time, two-time |
Antonyms: |
be open, tell truth |