cheat suggests using trickery that escapes observation.
cheated me out of a dollar
cozen implies artful persuading or flattering to attain a thing or a purpose.
always able to cozen her grandfather out of a few dollars
defraud stresses depriving one of his or her rights and usually connotes deliberate perversion of the truth.
defrauded of her inheritance by an unscrupulous lawyer
swindle implies large-scale cheating by misrepresentation or abuse of confidence.
swindled of their savings by con artists
Example Sentences
Verb hundreds of people were swindled out of their savings, and all they had to show for it were fake land deeds Noun a swindle that involved selling a lot of land that really didn't exist identity theft has become one of the most frequent and feared swindles of our time
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Her arrest has exposed a disturbing web of fraud that police say lasted years and involved alleged psychics to swindle artwork by some of Brazil's most emblematic painters. Reuters, CNN, 11 Aug. 2022 Genevieve Boghici then visited several other psychics, who used information provided by her daughter to swindle the woman out of more money, per Reuters. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Aug. 2022 Sanford Solny, who owns small residential buildings across the city, is accused by prosecutors of deed theft, a practice used to swindle homeowners out of their properties while leaving them stuck with the mortgage.New York Times, 3 Aug. 2022 Prosecutors have portrayed Balwani as a ruthless accomplice who helped Holmes swindle investors.CBS News, 21 June 2022 In 2003, he was convicted as the leader of an international plot to swindle dozens of Chinese immigrants out of their life savings.New York Times, 8 July 2022 So, Yuri is held captive and acts like Murray while Murray uses his fluent Russian skills to swindle the prison guards and get to Hop. Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 29 May 2022 Sorokin served about four years in prison after she was found guilty of swindling and attempting to swindle banks and hotels out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.NBC News, 10 Mar. 2022 The hot-ticket musical, about a con man who poses as a music instructor to swindle a small, Midwestern town, is directed by Jerry Zaks and produced by Barry Diller, David Geffen, Horton and Fictionhouse. Jordan Moreau, Variety, 11 Feb. 2022
Noun
The only means to keep the swindle going was to force the conversation back into the script. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 2 July 2022 Most of all, there is Harold Hill’s charismatic swindle, winning over those Iowans — and us. Celia Wren, Washington Post, 1 July 2022 Paul Richard Scharf, 42, of St. Paul, was charged Friday with 16 felony counts including theft by swindle and embezzlement of public funds. Shannon Prather, Star Tribune, 4 Dec. 2020 Angered by the swindle, the tourists snatched the knapsack of the deal’s alleged go-between and demanded their money back in exchange for returning the bag, with the go-between’s cell phone inside, the prosecution alleged.NBC News, 18 Mar. 2022 Angered by the swindle, the tourists snatched the knapsack of the deal's alleged go-between and demanded their money back in exchange for returning the bag, with the go-between's cell phone inside, the prosecution alleged. Frances D'emilio, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2022 In the dead of night and on rural roads, a crime syndicate staged car crash after car crash to dupe police and swindle insurance companies out of nearly $1 million, federal prosecutors said this week.Washington Post, 27 Jan. 2022 But like the deal that gave Lüderitz control of the territory in 1883, the entire industry was something of a swindle. Joshua Hammer, The New York Review of Books, 19 Aug. 2021 The infamous architect of an epic securities swindle that burned thousands of investors, outfoxed regulators and earned him a 150-year prison term. Bernard Mcghee, ajc, 10 Dec. 2021 See More
Word History
Etymology
Verb
back-formation from swindler, from German Schwindler giddy person, from schwindeln to be dizzy, from Old High German swintilōn, frequentative of swintan to diminish, vanish; akin to Old English swindan to vanish