grifter

[ grif-ter ]

noun

, Slang.

1. a person who operates a side show at a circus, fair, etc., especially a gambling attraction.
2. a swindler, dishonest gambler, or the like.

Word History and Origins

Origin of grifter¹

First recorded in 1910–15; grift + -er ¹

Example Sentences

A lack of gatekeepers is broadly a good thing, but it also leaves the door open to grifters.

From Washington Post

Meanwhile, back in India, the situation worsens with more new cases and grifters exploiting the situation.

From The Daily Beast

Many of the personalities who ran these shows were poor business executives, and a few were flat-out grifters.

From 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.

From 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.

From Washington Post

To most of the world, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is a convicted sex offender and a financial grifter.

From The Daily Beast

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) is a grifter and a wingnut, but is he possibly a felon too?

From The Daily Beast

After a lifetime being raised by and working alongside his grifter father, Bob decides he wants out.

From The Daily Beast

Of course, Bernard Madoff makes Mr. Ponzi look like a nickel-and-dime grifter.

From The Daily Beast

In the story, she was christened “The Hipster Grifter,” because she preyed upon skinny-jeaned Williamsburg sorts.

From The Daily Beast