pyramid
14
9.1
- noun
- /ˈpɪrəmɪd/
- Jargon
- The financial advisor explained how a pyramid scheme operates, emphasizing the risks involved for those at the bottom.
Examples
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In a pyramid scheme, early investors receive returns from the contributions of newer participants rather than from profit earned by the scheme itself.
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Check out this video to understand how to identify a pyramid scheme or further your understanding of how the stock market works with this video.
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And so I do not want to be part of the pyramid scheme of success.
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What I have just described is a pyramid scheme.
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A lot of people think it's a pyramid scheme... but it's not.
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Why is it always the losers that get caught up in the pyramid schemes?
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It's like a pyramid scheme, only it never goes back to the originators.
Fiction book (1999) -
One traditional scam that has blossomed on the Internet is the pyramid investment scheme.
Academic text (1999) -
However, economists estimate that about ninety-five percent or more of participants in pyramid schemes lose their money.
Academic text (1999) -
Investors should be cautious of any operation that has the characteristics of a pyramid scheme, as it is likely to collapse soon.
Compounds
15
8.5
A dishonest plan where people pay to join and only earn money by recruiting others, not by selling things
14
4.4
A very large ancient Egyptian tomb for Pharaoh Khufu at Giza with a square base and four triangle-shaped sides
- Specialized
5
3.9
A diagram showing who eats whom in an ecosystem, from plants to top predators
2
4.0
A very large ancient Egyptian tomb in Giza built for the king Khufu about 2600 BC
- Specialized
1
5.3
A solid shape with a square base and four triangular faces that meet at a top point
- Specialized
1
7.2
A pyramid with the top cut off by a flat cut parallel to its base
- Specialized
1
6.8
A solid with a flat base with all sides equal and triangular faces that meet at one top point
A tall plant with a stalk and pale green flowers that grows on dry sunny hills in western US
Surface Forms
Etymology
The financial meaning of pyramid comes from the image of layers rising to a point, borrowed from the Greek name pyramis for the Egyptian towers; traders 'pyramid' when they build positions in stages, stacking new buys on top of earlier ones like layers.