cardsharper

9.9

A person who cheats at card games to win money

noun

Archaic

: estafador de cartas

After losing several hands, he realized he had been playing against a skilled cardsharper.

Examples

The cardsharper used sleight of hand to trick the other players.
Everyone at the poker table was cautious, knowing a cardsharper might be hiding among them.
For instance... ...one must always pay a cardsharper but need not pay a tailor.

Anna Karenina (1935)

Synonyms

sharper

vscardsharper

Offensive

50 9.9

A person who cheats at card games to win money

focuses on professional cheating at specific table games for money

card shark

vscardsharper

Informal

3 8.2

A person who is very good at playing cards and cheats to win

is mainly a professional cheat who aims to win money

card sharp

vscardsharper

Informal

1 9.3

A person who cheats at card games to win money

is a deliberate professional cheat earning money through games

cardsharp

vscardsharper

Archaic

1 8.8

A person who cheats at card games to win money

focuses on cheating professionally to profit

card sharper

vscardsharper

1 9.6

A person who cheats at card games to win money from other players

is limited to earning money rather than valuables

sharpie

vscardsharper

Offensive

1 9.9

A card player who cheats to win money

refers broadly to profession of cheating for profit

sharpy

vscardsharper

Offensive

9.9

A person who cheats at card games to win money

is the general term for professional cheating to make money

Surface Forms

cardsharper singular

cardsharpers plural

Morphology

cardsharper = card + sharper (semi-transparent) = card + sharp + er

The base phrase 'card sharper' directly expresses a person who sharpens or cheats at cards, so the immediate structure is easy to recognize.

Etymology

Cardsharper comes from the words card and sharp. In older English sharp could mean someone who used clever, unfair tricks — a 'cheat' — so a cardsharper is a person who cheats at card games to win money.