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Glite Dictionary
to con out of

to con out of

6 8.1
To trick someone into giving you their money or other things
  • phrasal verb
  • /kɒn aʊt ʌv/
  • Slang
translation icon : estafar
  • This sleazy son of a gun and his pals almost succeeded in conning the world out of trillions.
  • conned people out of money
  • conned senior citizens out of their life savings
  • conned you out of a grand

Examples

  • That became the idea for Swindle—kids who have been conned out of a valuable Babe Ruth baseball card by an unscrupulous collector launching an elaborate operation to take it back.

    Academic text (2013)

  • There was Eddie Green, who stole every dollar he got his hands on and could con you out of your shirt.

    Blog text (6)

  • You just con people out of their money?

    Confidence (2003)

  • Suspected of conning a police officer out of some money.

    The Big Bounce (2004)

  • He conned me out of his money.

    Oscar (1991)

  • "She conned the sister out of some money for a lawyer," Phillip continued.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Well, they conned me out of some adobe brick and some lumber.

    Lilies of the Field (1963)

  • They are then conned out of their earnings in a gambling hell, where Curtin is slipped a mickey.

    Academic text (2002)

  • It's why otherwise intelligent people will sometimes defend as honest and sincere the Nigerian email spammer who conned them out of their life savings with a ridiculous story.

    Blog text (24)

  • He was conned out of his savings by a fraudulent investment scheme.

Synonyms

to trick
vsto con out of
326 3.5

To make someone believe something false so you can get what you want

is narrower, pointing to obtaining something like money by deceit
to deceive
vsto con out of
270 3.9

To make someone believe something that is not true to get an advantage

is more specific about obtaining money or items rather than belief change
to con
vsto con out of
  • Informal
61 7.3

To trick someone into giving their money or things

is the longer phrasal form used in similar casual contexts
to defraud
vsto con out of
  • Formal
40 6.9

To illegally get money or things from someone by lying

is similar but does not necessarily imply illegality in every case
to sucker
vsto con out of
  • Informal
26 6.0

To trick someone into doing something

is used mainly for getting money or goods rather than only actions
to scam
vsto con out of
  • NSFW
20 3.9

To trick someone into giving money or their things

is a broader informal word often used for dishonest schemes
to swindle
vsto con out of
20 5.5

To cheat someone and take their money by lying

is the common casual term for tricks rather than formal fraud
to fleece
vsto con out of
  • Informal
14 8.5

Charge someone too much money

focuses on tricking to obtain money rather than only unfair pricing
to bamboozle
vsto con out of
  • Informal
11 8.3

To trick someone by pretending you want to help them

focuses on simpler taking of money rather than elaborate plotted ruses
to do out of
vsto con out of
  • UK
11 8.4

Cheat someone so they lose money or other things they should have

is narrower, stressing deliberate deceptive obtaining of money or goods
to cozen
vsto con out of
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To trick someone to get their money or things

is focused more on obtaining items or money than mere deception
to goldbrick
vsto con out of
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To cheat someone out of money or things

is the general expression without stressing the value of items taken
to con someone
vsto con out of
  • Slang
7.7

To trick someone to get their money

focuses specifically on obtaining something tangible, especially money, by deceit
to bunco
vsto con out of
  • Archaic
9.9

To cheat someone by lying to get their money

is similar but is used more generally for direct taking schemes
to chouse
vsto con out of
9.9

To trick someone and take their money or things

is a general phrasal expression without extra method or size detail
to fleeche
vsto con out of
  • Archaic
9.9

To trick someone to take their money or goods

is the modern everyday form used in current speech
to mulct
vsto con out of
  • NSFW
9.9

Cheat someone to get their money or things

focuses more narrowly on getting money rather than possessions

How Deceptive

to defraud
  • Formal
40 6.9
to swindle
20 5.5
to con out of
  • Slang
6 8.1
to dupe
58 6.4
to trick
326 3.5

Surface Forms

con out of infinitive
conning out of present participle
cons out of third person singular
conned out of past
conned out of past participle

Morphology

con + out + of

The verb 'con' already means to swindle and the particle/preposition 'out of' conveys removal or taking from someone, so the combined phrase clearly denotes swindling someone so they lose something. This is a regular compositional pattern (verb + out of) found in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Con out of comes from the old idea of a trick that wins a person's trust first. The word con is short for 'confidence'—a trickster gains your trust and then takes something 'out of' you, so con out of means 'to trick someone into giving something, often money'.