social engineering
noun
1
: management of human beings in accordance with their place and function in society : applied social science
2
: social methods (such as phishing) that are used to obtain personal or confidential information which can then be used illicitly
The previously noted trend of switching from social engineering to hacking methods in attacks on organizations strengthened …—
San Fernando Valley (California) Business Journal
San Fernando Valley (California) Business Journal
social engineer
noun
plural social engineers
Examples of social engineering in a Sentence
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Iliopoulos demonstrates once again how the unwillingness of political authorities to respect an international treaty transforms both the native population and the newcomers into hostages of a sinister and clumsy social engineering project.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 15 Mar. 2026
America’s Culinary Cup almost forces its competitors to lean on social engineering or industry gossip to outmaneuver each other, and that’s fascinating.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 Mar. 2026
Remember, enable multi-factor authentication wherever possible; even that may not have been enough in this case, since social engineering was the real attack vector here.
—Alan Henry, PC Magazine, 6 Mar. 2026
So far, the most common use of AI for hacking has been social engineering.
—Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
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Matthew Carey, Deadline, 15 Mar. 2026
America’s Culinary Cup almost forces its competitors to lean on social engineering or industry gossip to outmaneuver each other, and that’s fascinating.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 Mar. 2026
Remember, enable multi-factor authentication wherever possible; even that may not have been enough in this case, since social engineering was the real attack vector here.
—Alan Henry, PC Magazine, 6 Mar. 2026
So far, the most common use of AI for hacking has been social engineering.
—Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for social engineering
Cite this Entry
“Social engineering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20engineering. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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