con game

American  

noun

Slang.

1. confidence game.

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Etymology

Origin of con game

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Great acting is a con game, of the highest order, and it’s a pleasure to be Moore’s mark.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 16, 2023

The movies are an industry, a con game with a half-guilty conscience.

From New York Times • May 13, 2021

These two people are recklessly messing with the world as if it's just another con game, in which they'll take their profits before moving on to the next chapter of their spoiled, mindless lives.

From Salon • Mar. 20, 2019

And despite a few attempts on the director’s part to distinguish authentic art from his parody of art as a vast con game, the film ends on a profoundly anti-art note.

From Washington Post • Feb. 7, 2019

If this is done knowingly and with intent to defraud, this is an illegal con game.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos