con artist
a person who tricks or cheats others (a criminal)
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Brazil con artist sells Amazon rainforest -- The authorities in Brazil have begun an investigation into a man who's accused of conning foreigners into buying large areas in the Amazon rainforest with false land titles.
(BBC News - Monday, 8 January, 2001)
(BBC News - Monday, 8 January, 2001)
Did you
know?
"Con" is derived from confidence.
The verb "to con" means to swindle, to trick, to cheat.
A "confidence trick" is a swindle which relies upon first winning the confidence of the victim. This is quite an "art", hence the phrase "con artist".
Date: 1896
Synonyms:
cheater, con man, crook, deceiver, fleecer, flimflammer, fraud, hustler, mountebank, scam artist, scammer, shark, smoothie, swindler
The verb "to con" means to swindle, to trick, to cheat.
A "confidence trick" is a swindle which relies upon first winning the confidence of the victim. This is quite an "art", hence the phrase "con artist".
Date: 1896
Synonyms:
cheater, con man, crook, deceiver, fleecer, flimflammer, fraud, hustler, mountebank, scam artist, scammer, shark, smoothie, swindler
