grifter

Meaning

  1. (informal) A con artist; someone who pulls confidence games; a swindler, scammer, huckster, hustler, and/or charlatan.
  2. (colloquial) A manipulator or otherwise generally corrupt person who "games" a system, group of people, or other entity for selfish gains; especially of a political "sell-out" perceived as lacking integrity.

Frequency

30k
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈɡɹɪftɚ/
Etymology

From grift + -er; or probably an alteration of grafter (“a corrupt person, one who accepts bribes”), which is essentially a doublet of the same word. Originally circus slang, gradually widened in sense. First attested in 1906.

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