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scamdemic

noun

Etymology

Blend of scam + pandemic. Coined by conspiracy theorists to describe the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions of governments and other organizations in response to it.

  1. derived from *deh₂-✻ — “to divide, share”
  2. derived from *peh₂-✻ — “to protect, shepherd”
  3. derived from πάνδημος — “of or belonging to all the people, public”
  4. compounded as scamdemic — “scam + pandemic”

Definitions

  1. A period of time where the idea of an ongoing pandemic is used to defraud the general…

    A period of time where the idea of an ongoing pandemic is used to defraud the general public.

    • A similar protest in San Francisco drew about 40 people across the back entrance to City Hall, waving American flags and holding signs, saying things like “Scamdemic!” and “Newsom is a Dictator!”
    • “We are now at the stage where instead of having a pandemic it’s becoming a scamdemic. […]”
    • "They all claim it's a 'scamdemic' and say the hospitals are empty.

  2. A reference to the influx of scam cases worldwide.

    • Such rampant cybercrimes have raised concerns about an epidemic of scams – scamdemic – a term coined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for scamdemic. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA