grift
grift Lexical Profile
grift Game Scores & Validity
• noun
North American A petty or small-scale swindle, confidence game, or fraudulent scheme used to obtain money dishonestly.
"The investigator quickly realized that the online investment seminar was nothing more than an elaborate grift."
North American Money or illicit profit obtained through swindling, cheating, or dishonest schemes.
"The con artists divided the grift among themselves before leaving town."
• verb
North American To engage in petty swindling or confidence games; to obtain money or valuables illicitly through deception and fraud.
"He spent years traveling from city to city, grifting unsuspecting tourists with counterfeit tickets."
• Rhymes for grift
Word Origin & Etymology
Originating in early 20th-century American underworld and carnival slang, 'grift' is likely an alteration of 'graft' (dishonest profit or corruption) or a blend of 'graft' and 'drift'.