DictionaryAI

grifter

noun
USGRIF-ter/ˈɡɹɪftɚ/UKGRIF-tuh/ˈɡɹɪftə/

Pluralgrifters

1 meaning of grifter

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncolloquialcountable
    A person who uses deception or manipulation to exploit people or a system for personal gain, especially by gaining people's trust.

    She was a small-time grifter who worked the hotel bars, posing as a widow down on her luck.

    The boardwalk was crawling with grifters looking for tourists with full wallets.

    Similarswindler, hustler, fraudster, trickster, conman

    Note

    The word came out of North American circus and carnival slang, first recorded in 1906, and it may be an altered form of grafter, a taker of bribes; in that world it sat close to shill. It keeps a hard-boiled ring, as in Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep (1939): "We're all grifters." It pairs readily with small-time, for the swindler who works hotel bars and boardwalks.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The word originated in North American circus and carnival slang. en.wiktionary.org
    • Grifter may be an alteration of grafter, meaning someone who accepts bribes. en.wiktionary.org
    • Shill belongs to the same carnival vocabulary and has a related meaning. en.wiktionary.org
    • Raymond Chandler wrote The Big Sleep, first published in 1939. themorgan.org
    • The exact words “We're all grifters.” occur in The Big Sleep; Harry Jones speaks them to Marlowe in Chapter 25. fadedpage.com

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Origin

It is either grift plus -er or, more probably, a changed form of grafter, meaning "a corrupt person, one who accepts bribes." Grifter and grafter are essentially doublets. It began as circus or carny slang (compare shill), and its meaning slowly broadened. The first record is from 1906, and it caught on online around the late 2010s.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts