confidence man

[ kon-fi-duhns man ]

noun

1. a person who swindles others by means of a confidence game; swindler.

confidence man

noun

1. See con man
   another name for con man

Word History and Origins

Origin of confidence man¹

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people’s vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse.

From Washington Post

That we know Earp not as a confidence man but as a duty-bound law officer was his most enduring and successful confidence game.

From The Daily Beast

His hard lines and angles project the arrogance of a confidence man, or as Arlyn Imberman puts it, “a steamroller.”

From The Daily Beast

But this only exasperated the old man the more, and he made a lunge at the confidence man's throat.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a new version of an old swindle and to every self-respecting confidence man was well known as the "sick engineer" game.

From Project Gutenberg

No, certainly, he was not a confidence man—even if he was, I would rather welcome the adventure.

From Project Gutenberg

When he had finished he lighted a long black cigar from a box that had been sent him by a world famous confidence man.

From Project Gutenberg

The confidence-man—for Tom had fully decided that such he was—seemed disappointed.

From Project Gutenberg