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confidence game

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR confidence game ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any swindle in which the swindler, after gaining the confidence of the victim, robs the victim by cheating at a gambling game, appropriating funds entrusted for investment, or the like.

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RELATED WORDS

con, flimflam, hustle, racket, rip-off, sting, swindle, Ponzi, bait-and-switch, bunko

Origin of confidence game

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
Also called, British, confidence trick.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for confidence trick

confidence trick

US and Canadian confidence game

noun

a swindle involving money, goods, etc, in which the victim's trust is won by the swindlerInformal shortened forms: con trick, (US and Canadian) con game
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with confidence trick

confidence game

Also, confidence trick; con game. A swindle in which the victim is defrauded after his or her trust has been won. For example, The police warned of a confidence game in which people were asked to turn over valuables for a so-called appraisal, or The typical confidence trick is easy to spot if you know what to look for, or I almost let myself be taken in by her con game—she seemed so sincere. These terms, which use confidence in the sense of “trust,” date from the mid-1800s. They also gave rise to confidence man (or con man) for the swindler.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.