scam

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
8
Words With Friends
10
Letters
4
Pronunciation
/ˈskæm/
See all 3 pronunciations
/ˈskæm/ · /ˈskeə̯m/ · /ˈskɛə̯m/

Definition of scam

4 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. A fraudulent deal.
    “That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.”
See all 4 definitions

noun

  1. A fraudulent deal.
    “That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me.”
  2. Something that is promoted using scams.
    “That new diet burger is a scam.”

verb

  1. (ambitransitive)To defraud or embezzle.
    “They tried to scam her out of her savings.”
  2. (slang)To seek out a partner for casual sex; to hit on.
    “His friend nudged me. "It's true. JJ only scams black ladies." / "You don't say?" / "J-boy scammed a real live Miss Black Universe once. Met her in a disco down in Honduras. Wearing her title. Since then he's been obsessed."”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

US American carnival slang of uncertain origin. Possibly from scamp (“swindler, cheater”) or Irish cam (“crooked”). Also possibly from Danish skam; if so, it would be a doublet of shame…

See full etymology

US American carnival slang of uncertain origin. Possibly from scamp (“swindler, cheater”) or Irish cam (“crooked”). Also possibly from Danish skam; if so, it would be a doublet of shame and sham. First use appears c. 1963 in the periodical Time. The word became common use among the US drug culture when in early 1980, after Operation ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation directed at public officials, became public.

Words you can make from scam

9 playable · top: CAMS (8 pts)

Best play cams 8 points

4-letter words

1 word

3-letter words

4 words

2-letter words

3 words

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

A single letter you can add to scam to make another valid word.

Find your best play with scam

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes scam, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.