grifter

[ grif-ter ]

/ ˈgrɪf tər /

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a person who operates a side show at a circus, fair, etc., especially a gambling attraction.

a swindler, dishonest gambler, or the like.

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On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

First recorded in 1910–15; grift + -er¹

Many of the personalities who ran these shows were poor business executives, and a few were flat-out grifters.
Restoring the Fairness Doctrine can’t prevent another Rush Limbaugh|Heather Hendershot|February 19, 2021|Washington Post
By the 1990s, he’d fallen in with grifters who “branded” him with companies whose business models percolated between accidental and overt fraud.
‘True Believer’ tries to capture Stan Lee. It isn’t easy.|Glen David Gold|February 18, 2021|Washington Post
Which means that every Republican, no matter their true inclinations, winds up acting like the grifters and nutbars who keep winning seats in deeply red districts.
Want to understand the GOP’s problem? Look at its newly elected extremists.|Paul Waldman|January 22, 2021|Washington Post
To most of the world, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is a convicted sex offender and a financial grifter.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) is a grifter and a wingnut, but is he possibly a felon too?
Ethics Office Sees Evidence Republican Congressman Broke the Law|Ben Jacobs|June 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After a lifetime being raised by and working alongside his grifter father, Bob decides he wants out.
Please Don't Kill My TV Show!|Kyle Killen|September 26, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Of course, Bernard Madoff makes Mr. Ponzi look like a nickel-and-dime grifter.
Why Smart People Are Dumb|Morley Safer|February 11, 2010|DAILY BEAST
In the story, she was christened “The Hipster Grifter,” because she preyed upon skinny-jeaned Williamsburg sorts.
Catching Up With the Hipster Grifter|Natasha Vargas-Cooper|November 11, 2009|DAILY BEAST