Synonyms

confidence trick

British

noun

Informal shortened forms: con trick. con game. a swindle involving money, goods, etc, in which the victim's trust is won by the swindler

"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

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.

He was jailed for 10 years for perpetrating a "callous confidence trick", the judge said.

From BBC • Apr. 25, 2018

It is essentially a confidence trick that influences a person to take action that may not be in their best interest.

From BBC • Dec. 31, 2015

This is more like a horror, a deep horror: to see how this confidence trick is being played out in front of everybody.

From The Guardian • Apr. 19, 2013

“This report is a sham, this report is a whitewash, this report is a confidence trick dressed up as independent scrutiny and given invisible clothes of reliability,” she said.

From New York Times • Dec. 13, 2012

Public speaking, like writing, is in many ways a confidence trick.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023