con artist
Americannoun
-
a person adept at lying, cajolery, or glib self-serving talk.
-
a person adept at swindling by means of confidence games; swindler.
Usage
What does con artist mean? A con artist is a person who cheats people out of something (usually money or other valuables) through some kind of deceitful scheme. More generally, the term is used to refer to someone who’s good at deceiving people for their own gain. In con artist, the word con is short for confidence, a reference to how they gain their victims’ trust in order to cheat them. The same term is used in con man (a male con artist). The word artist in this context simply refers to a person who is skillful (in this case, at trickery and deception). Example: I can’t believe how many people are falling for this guy’s tricks—he’s clearly a con artist who’s going to cheat and pocket all the money.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That’s most likely to happen not because you’re stupid or greedy, but because you’re vulnerable—and because the con artist knows exactly how to fabricate trustworthiness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
A con artist, a music-industry legend and the feud over a masterpiece.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 12, 2026
But there can be no doubt of his talent as a con artist.
From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2025
A convicted con artist who was the subject of a popular 2022 Netflix documentary, The Tinder Swindler, has been arrested in Georgia, local officials said.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025
“Any con artist could tell me that. I heard you were special.”
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
