flimflam

 
Pronunciation: /ˈflɪmflam/
informal

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] nonsensical or insincere talk: pseudo-intellectual flimflam
  • 2a confidence trick: flimflams perpetrated against us by our elected officials

verb (flimflams, flimflamming, flimflammed)

[with object]
  • swindle (someone) with a confidence trick: the tribe was flimflammed out of its land

Derivatives

flimflammer

noun

flimflammery

noun

Origin:

mid 16th century: symbolic reduplication