# grifter

Pronunciation: US say "GRIF-ter" /ˈɡɹɪftɚ/; UK say "GRIF-tuh" /ˈɡɹɪftə/

## Noun

1. A person who uses deception or manipulation to exploit people or a system for personal gain, especially by gaining people's trust. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Someone who tricks or manipulates people or dishonestly exploits a system for personal gain.
   - _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._

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/grifter (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).