English Explanatory Dictionary

Ponzi

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  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.
noun
  1. A Ponzi scheme.
verb
  1. To introduce or perpetrate a Ponzi scheme style scam.
  2. To deceive someone by promising false investment returns that are funded by the proceeds of a new victim.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɒnzi/ /ˈpɑnzi/

Word forms

Ponzi Ponzis Ponzies Ponzying Ponzied

Etymology

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

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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