: an investment swindle in which some early investors are paid off with money put up by later ones in order to encourage more and bigger risks
Examples of Ponzi scheme in a Sentence
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Continue reading … -- IN OTHER NEWS FOOL ME ONCE – Kevin Bacon is ‘more careful’ after losing money in infamous Ponzi scheme.
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FOXNews.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Maybe Musk should ask if all forms of insurance are a Ponzi scheme.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 1 Apr. 2025
Scandals such as Bernard Madoff’s huge Ponzi scheme discovered earlier this century and the collapse of the energy firm Enron a few years earlier are proof enough of that.
—Roger Trapp, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
Social security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.
—Nbc News, NBC news, 23 Mar. 2025
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FOXNews.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Maybe Musk should ask if all forms of insurance are a Ponzi scheme.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 1 Apr. 2025
Scandals such as Bernard Madoff’s huge Ponzi scheme discovered earlier this century and the collapse of the energy firm Enron a few years earlier are proof enough of that.
—Roger Trapp, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
Social security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.
—Nbc News, NBC news, 23 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for Ponzi scheme
Cite this Entry
“Ponzi scheme.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ponzi%20scheme. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
Ponzi scheme
noun
Pon·zi scheme
ˈpän-zē-ˌskēm 
: an investment swindle in which early investors are paid with sums obtained from later ones in order to create the illusion of profitability
Etymology
Charles A. Ponzi (ca. 1882–1949), Italian-born American swindler
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