What does bunco mean?
Bunco has two distinct lives in English. Its older sense denotes a swindle or confidence trick — a scheme in which victims are deceived into handing over money — giving rise to American expressions such as 'bunco artist,' 'bunco game,' and 'bunco squad,' the last referring to police units that specialized in investigating fraud. In its other, cheerier sense, bunco is a social dice game played in rotating groups, hugely popular in the United States as the centerpiece of neighborhood and club gatherings. The word's origins are uncertain, though it is generally thought to be a nineteenth-century American coinage, perhaps influenced by Spanish or Italian words related to banking or luck. Today the criminal sense sounds slightly old-fashioned, while the game sense remains current, making context essential to understanding which bunco is meant.
A swindle or confidence trick, especially one aimed at cheating people out of their money.
"He was arrested after running a bunco on dozens of retirees."
Often found in fixed expressions such as 'bunco squad' or 'bunco artist'; the spelling 'bunko' is a frequent variant.
A social dice game of chance played in rotating groups, popular at American community gatherings.
"The church hall was filled with laughter during the monthly bunco night."
This sense is chiefly North American and remains in active use.
Rarely used in the plural; the word usually appears uncounted or in fixed phrases.
"Police records from the era catalogued hundreds of buncos across the city."
Chicago police once had an entire 'bunco squad' dedicated solely to catching con artists — the swindle was so widespread it earned its own crime division.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bunco
The exact origin of 'bunco' is uncertain. It emerged in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century as a name for confidence games and swindles, and many lexicographers link it to Spanish 'banco' or similar Romance-language words meaning 'bank' or 'bench.' By the early twentieth century the word had also become attached to a popular parlor dice game. A variant spelling, 'bunko,' appeared alongside it and remains in occasional use.
Related word forms
How bunco is actually used
In American English, 'bunco' as a swindle is somewhat dated but persists in phrases like 'bunco squad' and 'bunco artist.' The dice-game sense is still very much alive in the US, where regular bunco gatherings are a popular social tradition. The variant spelling 'bunko' is common, particularly for the fraud sense.
Easily confused with bunco
Bunko is simply an alternate spelling of bunco with the same meanings, not a different word.
Bunkum means empty or insincere talk, whereas bunco refers to a swindle or to the social dice game.