confidence man
2
8.4
- noun
- /ˈkɒnfɪdəns mæn/
:
estafador
- Well, a confidence man would just be interested in your money.
Many people are charlatans and they are liars and confidence men and they are stealing money based on fake free energy projects.
- Many people are charlatans and they are liars and confidence men and they are stealing money based on fake free energy projects.
- These are all the stress points, if you will, that these confidence men that these teams will look at and they use psychology.
Examples
-
A confidence man doesn't suddenly become a shoe salesman, does he?
Fiction book (1996) -
Mr. Lamb, how did this confidence man crash my jury pool?
-
Our Mr. Zinthrop's a very capable confidence man from what I read in this letter.
-
I've been trying to tell bright eyes here that I think Zinthrop is a phony and a confidence man.
-
"Smart, sophisticated, tough New Yorkers, such as the J Flanders Kittredges, who opened their homes and pocketbooks to a young man, learned yesterday they had been boondoggled by a confidence man now wanted by police."
-
The police warned locals about a confidence man who had been tricking people out of their savings.
-
After gaining their trust, the confidence man convinced the investors that his scheme was legitimate.
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She realized too late that the charming stranger was nothing more than a confidence man out to steal her money.
Synonyms
47
4.7
A person who tricks people by gaining their trust to get their money
40
4.8
A person who tricks people by gaining their trust to take their money or valuables
38
8.6
A person who says they have special skills to trick people
20
4.0
A person who tricks others to take their money or things
20
6.0
A person who lies to or cheats others, often to have fun
14
9.9
A person, often a lawyer or politician, who acts dishonestly to get what they want
13
5.5
A person who tricks others by making them believe something not true
7
6.2
A person who seems friendly but is actually dangerous or dishonest
4
6.7
A person who tricks people into believing something false for fun or attention
1
7.9
A woman who tricks people into giving her money or valuable things by gaining their trust
1
7.8
A person who tricks or cheats people, often as a joke
A woman who gains people's trust to trick them out of money
A person who cheats others with tricks or fake deals
A person who tricks others using clever talk to take their money
How Deceptive
15
5.4
- Offensive
2
8.4
- Offensive
112
2.6
1
6.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'confidence' (trust) and 'man' (person) do point toward a person associated with gaining others' trust, so a B1 learner could infer a man related to 'confidence'. However the specific sense — that he gains trust in order to cheat people — is an idiomatic, pragmatic detail that is not fully predictable from the parts and may be misinterpreted as simply a trustworthy man without prior exposure.
Etymology
Confidence man comes from old tricksters who first asked a stranger to show confidence, for example by leaving a watch or lending money, and then used that 'trust' to cheat them. That's why confidence man means 'a man who cheats people by gaining their trust'.