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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

Ponzi.

Pertaining to a scheme whereby investors' returns are paid for directly by later investors' investments, giving the false impression that the investment is viable.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈpɒnzi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑnzi/General-American
  1. Pertaining to a scheme whereby investors' returns are paid for directly by later investors' investments, giving the false impression that the investment is viable.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

Named after con artist Charles Ponzi (1882–1949) who notoriously ran such type of scam.

noun/ˈpɒnzi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑnzi/General-American
  1. A Ponzi scheme.

Where this word comes from

Named after con artist Charles Ponzi (1882–1949) who notoriously ran such type of scam.

verb/ˈpɒnzi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑnzi/General-American
  1. To introduce or perpetrate a Ponzi scheme style scam.

    informal · intransitive · uncommon
  2. To deceive someone by promising false investment returns that are funded by the proceeds of a new victim.

    informal · transitive · uncommon
Where this word comes from

Named after con artist Charles Ponzi (1882–1949) who notoriously ran such type of scam.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.