social engineering

noun

1

: management of human beings in accordance with their place and function in society : applied social science

2

: social methods (such as phishing) that are used to obtain personal or confidential information which can then be used illicitly

The previously noted trend of switching from social engineering to hacking methods in attacks on organizations strengthened …

—San Fernando Valley (California) Business Journal

social engineer noun

plural social engineers

Examples of social engineering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Medusa, which is known to have impacted at least 300 critical infrastructure targets, uses social engineering and unpatched software vulnerabilities as part of the exploit campaign. —Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025

Multi-factor authentication and other digital identity verification tools can also protect against social engineering attacks. —Bernard Marr, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025

Creating a false sense of urgency is a fundamental tactic of social engineering. —Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 7 Mar. 2025

The first is social engineering, using impersonation and deep fakes to trick an employee into giving up sensitive information. —Matt Robison, Newsweek, 24 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for social engineering

• bioengineering
• adhering
• appearing
• careering
• cohering
• endearing
• inhering
• prehearing
• rehearing
• veneering
• cheering
• clearing

Kids Definition

social engineering

noun

1

: management of human beings in accordance with their place and function in society : applied social science

2

: social methods (such as phishing) that are used to obtain personal or confidential information which can then be used illicitly