shell game
noun
Simple meaning
A game of skill which requires the bettor to guess which of three small cups a pea-sized object is concealed under.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
shehlgaymSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʃɛlˈɡeɪm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A game of skill which requires the bettor to guess which of three small cups (or shells) a pea-sized object is concealed under, after the party operating the game rapidly rearranges them, providing opportunity for sleight-of-hand trickery.
A swindling sleight-of-hand game; victim guesses which of three things a pellet is under
Any confidence scheme, especially one involving the rapid movement of investment funds to a location beyond recovery.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A game of skill which requires the bettor to guess which of three small cups (or shells) a pea-sized object is concealed under, after the party operating the game rapidly rearranges them, providing opportunity for sleight-of-hand trickery.
Used this way, shell game is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.