Flimflam

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈflɪmflæm/

Definitions

1. a deceptive trick or confidence scheme designed to swindle someone out of money or goods
2. a fraudulent scam or swindle involving deception and trickery to obtain something of value
3. a dishonest confidence game or scam meant to trick people into giving up their money or possessions

Etymology: "Flimflam" is a sound-symbolic reduplication, a word built by repeating a sound pattern with a changed vowel to suggest something light, quick, and nonsensical. The earliest recorded use as a noun dates to 1538, with the verb sense following in 1660, so the word was already circulating in English well over four centuries ago as a name for mockery or trickery. Its ancestry is less certain. It may come from a dialect word, or from North Germanic sources, with Old Norse "flim" meaning lampoon or mockery offered as a possible relative. That connection would fit the word's sense: a flimflam is a jibe or deception delivered with a bit of theatrical nonsense. The "flim" element appears in other English words that suggest flimsiness or trickery, which helps explain why the reduplicated form sounds so convincingly like a con.

Synonyms: nonsense, deception, racket, scam, fraud

Antonyms: truth, honesty, integrity, authenticity, reality