to con someone
- phrasal verb
- /kɒn ˈsʌmwʌn/
- Slang
:
engañar
The smirk of someone who just conned someone into giving them money.
- The smirk of someone who just conned someone into giving them money.
Examples
-
The smirk of someone who just conned someone into giving them money.
-
Many women from blue-collar backgrounds fear being found out: being discovered as less than who they pretend to be or that they conned someone into giving them a position they do not "really" deserve (Gardner, 1993; Tokarczyk & Fay, 1993).
Academic text (1995) -
He tried to con me into paying for his dinner by pretending he left his wallet behind.
-
It's easy to con people over the internet when they trust you too quickly.
-
The scam artist managed to con several citizens out of their savings by promising them fake investments.
Synonyms
704
2.1
To trick someone into believing something that is not true
326
3.5
To make someone believe something false so you can get what you want
270
3.9
To make someone believe something that is not true to get an advantage
61
7.3
To trick someone into giving their money or things
58
6.4
To trick someone into believing something false
48
6.3
Make someone believe something that is not true
40
6.9
To illegally get money or things from someone by lying
26
6.0
To trick someone into doing something
20
3.9
To trick someone into giving money or their things
20
5.5
To cheat someone and take their money by lying
11
8.3
To trick someone by pretending you want to help them
7
7.4
Treat someone as stupid to trick or cheat them
6
8.1
To trick someone into giving you their money or other things
5
8.1
To trick someone to gain an advantage
5
5.8
Attempt to trick someone and take their money
4
3.9
To make all the people believe something that is not true
4
7.8
To make someone believe something that is not true
1
9.9
To trick someone to get their money or things
1
9.5
To trick someone by using clever talk
1
8.1
To trick someone who trusts you by hiding your real plans to get something for yourself
To trick someone and take their money or things
To trick someone into believing something false
To trick someone to take their money or goods
How Deceptive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'con' already carries the meaning 'to swindle' and adding the pronoun 'someone' simply specifies the target of that action, so a learner who knows both words can directly infer 'to deceive or trick a person'. This is a straightforward verb + object composition (not idiomatic or metaphorical) and follows common cross-linguistic patterns, making it transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
The verb con someone comes from con, short for the old 'confidence' trick where a person wins someone's trust by acting friendly and honest. By getting that trust, the person could then steal or cheat, so con someone came to mean 'to deceive or trick someone'.