social engineering

[ soh-shuhl en-juh-neer-ing ]

noun

1. Political Science. the manipulation of social beliefs and behaviors by public or private entities through legislation, policy, and investment.
2. a technique that uses psychological manipulation, fraud, or dishonesty to force people to disclose private personal or corporate information, or to take a particular action:

   Hackers are using social engineering to perpetrate phishing scams.

social engineering

noun

1. the manipulation of the social position and function of individuals in order to manage change in a society

Other Words From

• so·cial en·gi·neer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of social engineering¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Social engineering: Scammers employ psychological manipulation to exploit human trust.

From Salon

US officials said that Iran had used “social engineering and other efforts” to seek out direct access to both the Democratic and Republican campaigns – a tactic they said had been used by both Iran and Russia in other countries around the world.

From BBC

Sylvia Garcia, a Democratic US representative whose district includes part of Houston said that the order was akin to "social engineering".

From BBC

It caters to special interests and will allow unidentified social engineering on our dime.

From Seattle Times

Many in the ethnic Macedonian majority see such efforts as unfair social engineering, contributing to a big election win on May 8 for a nationalist-tinged political party, VMRO-DPMNE, that appeals mainly to the majority and has pledged to scrap the Balancer.

From New York Times