# grifter

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡɹɪftɚ/ · frequency rank #54,811

## Definitions
1. A con artist; someone who pulls confidence games; a swindler, scammer, huckster, hustler, and/or charlatan.
2. A manipulator or otherwise generally corrupt person who "games" a system, group of people, or other entity for selfish gains; especially of a political "sell-out" perceived as lacking integrity.

## Etymology
From grift + -er; or probably an alteration of grafter (“a corrupt person, one who accepts bribes”), which is essentially a doublet of the same word. Originally circus slang (carny; compare shill of similar semantics), gradually widened in sense. First attested in 1906; popularized online circa late 2010s.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/grifter