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con artist

con artist

40 4.8
A person who tricks people by gaining their trust to take their money or valuables
  • noun
  • /kɒn ˈɑːrtɪst/
translation icon : estafador
  • During the investigation, the police uncovered several schemes run by con artists.
  • duped by con artists
  • scam by con artists
  • bilked by con artists

As we know, Trump, above all else is a con artist and a grifter.

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Examples

  • I'm a con artist, and I always have been.

  • I just want to know how a two-bit con artist like you got involved with Lev Dellrayne.

  • This woman is an international con artist.

  • You are a con artist!

  • Her old friend was still the same old con artist, naturally.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • That's what all the good con artists want you to think.

  • She's an exceptional con artist.

  • The most dangerous con artist is a brilliant one who is confident, attractive, and persuasive.

    Blog text (21)
  • Talon may look nice, but it's a hotspot for pickpockets and con artists.

  • The con artist tricked the elderly couple into giving him their life savings.

Synonyms

fraud
vscon artist
  • Offensive
160 4.4

A person who pretends to be something they are not to trick others

uses personal trust building to persuade victims before stealing money
crook
vscon artist
  • Offensive
153 3.9

A dishonest person who cheats or steals

tends to use trust based persuasion to trick people into giving money
scoundrel
vscon artist
  • Offensive
51 6.5

A person who behaves dishonestly and hurts others by lying or stealing

usually implies deliberate trust based cheating for financial gain
impostor
vscon artist
  • UK
50 5.1

A person who pretends to be someone else to trick people

uses personal trust building rather than false identity to steal valuables
con man
vscon artist
47 4.7

A person who tricks people by gaining their trust to get their money

is the gender neutral term for the same trust based fraud
charlatan
vscon artist
  • Offensive
38 8.6

A person who says they have special skills to trick people

targets victims by winning their trust rather than by false expertise
scammer
vscon artist
  • NSFW
20 4.0

A person who tricks others to take their money or things

focuses specifically on gaining trust before the theft of valuables
trickster
vscon artist
20 6.0

A person who lies to or cheats others, often to have fun

focuses specifically on gaining trust to defraud victims for money
swindler
vscon artist
15 5.4

A person who tricks people to take their money

focuses on gaining victims' trust before taking money or valuables
deceiver
vscon artist
13 5.5

A person who tricks others by making them believe something not true

specifically targets trust to steal money or valuables from victims
duper
vscon artist
  • Offensive
13 7.9

A person who tricks others to take their money or things

focuses on building confidence with victims before taking their valuables
carny
vscon artist
  • Offensive
3 9.2

A person who tricks others to get their money

is the neutral, standard term rather than the informal label
confidence man
vscon artist
2 8.4

A man who tricks people by gaining their trust and taking their money

is the general term that covers trust based scams by anyone
con woman
vscon artist
  • Slang
1 7.9

A woman who tricks people into giving her money or valuable things by gaining their trust

is the gender neutral term for the same trust based fraud
defrauder
vscon artist
  • Formal
1 7.9

A person who gets money by lying to or tricking people

relies on gaining victims' trust before cheating them out of valuables
rooker
vscon artist
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who cheats others to get money or things

is the common contemporary word used for that deceptive behavior
bamboozler
vscon artist
  • Informal
1 7.8

A person who tricks or cheats people, often as a joke

focuses on gaining trust for serious financial gain, not playful tricks
confidence woman
vscon artist
8.4

A woman who gains people's trust to trick them out of money

is the general term used for trust based deception by anyone
Uncle Scam
vscon artist
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who tricks people into giving their money

is the normal expression for that same kind of fraud
cozener
vscon artist
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who tricks people to get their money or things

depends on gaining victims' trust beforehand to take valuables
flimflammer
vscon artist
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who cheats others with tricks or fake deals

focuses more on earning trust before committing the deception
finagler
vscon artist
  • Offensive
9.8

A person who gets things by tricking or lying to others

usually operates by building trust to trick victims out of money
clip artist
vscon artist
  • Offensive
9.6

A person who cheats or overcharges people to get money

relies on building trust to persuade victims rather than overcharging tricks
magsman
vscon artist
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who tricks others using clever talk to take their money

is the modern, neutral term used for the same trust based fraud
beguiler
vscon artist
8.7

A person who tricks others by saying things that are not true

uses deliberate trust building to take money rather than charm for other ends

Antonyms

1.0

Truthful and fair, not cheating or lying

How Dishonest

swindler
15 5.4
scammer
  • NSFW
20 4.0
con artist
40 4.8
cheater
  • Offensive
112 2.6
deceiver
13 5.5

Surface Forms

con artist singular
con artists plural

Morphology

con + artist

The meaning 'a person who deceives others' is directly derivable from 'con' (to swindle) combined with 'artist' functioning as an agent noun meaning 'someone who does X'. This agentive, compositional pattern is common and predictable, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand 'con artist'.

Etymology

The noun con artist comes from the idea of someone who is an artist at con, where con is short for 'confidence' meaning 'trust'. Imagine a person who is very good at winning your trust and then uses that trust to 'cheat' you, so con artist means someone who tricks people to take their money.