Meanings
verbscambait (third-person singular simple present scambaits, present participle scambaiting, simple past and past participle scambaited)
present singular third person scambaits · participle present scambaiting · participle past scambaited · past scambaited
- InternetTo pose as a potential victim of a scam, in order to waste the scammer's time and resources.
I've long maintained that scambaiting is one of the few sources of ethical "content" out there.
2026 July 23, Grant St. Clair, “Trapping a scammer in an endless maze of torment”, in BoingBoing, archived from the original on 23 Jul 2026, retrieved 23 Jul 2026
Origin
- Englishscam
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeyd-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰéydt
- Proto-Germanic*bītaną
- Proto-Germanic*baitijaną
- Old Norsebeita
- Middle Englishbayte
- Englishbait
- Englishscambait
Cite this entry
APA
scambait. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scambait
MLA
“scambait.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scambait. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scambait,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scambait.
Source: scambait on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.