"Grifter"

OP, you ruined what could have a been a good thread with a stupid poll.

You just don't know when to stop. Everything by you is overkill.

Shyster was the word I remember used.

That's a good one, R2.

Snake oil salesman.

The Grifters is a 1990 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Stephen Frears, produced by Martin Scorsese, and starring John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, and Annette Bening.

It received four Academy Award nominations including Angelica Huston for Best Actress and Annette Bening for Best Supporting Actress. While neither won the Oscar, both won the National Society of Film Critics Award in their respective categories.

Great movie!!

A variation on shyster is “sheisty,” I guess the adjective form. I use that.

The Grifters was also a 1963 crime novel by Jim Thompson. Not really a new word.

There was also "con artist." Snake oil salesman is still good, IMO.

Yes it became popular after the 1990 Frears film - at least I started using it then on.

Another name for grifter is "Flim-Flam Man"

In addition to general deceiving or tricking, the verb "flimflam" is often used specifically to refer to swindling someone out of money. The ultimate origin of "flimflam" is uncertain, but the word is probably of Scandinavian origin and may be related to the Old Norse flim, meaning "mockery."

Also a great song in 1971 by Streisand written by Laura Nyro from the "Stoney End" album:

And a movie too I thought. The flimflamman?

Used Car Salesman.

Grifter is not a new word by any means and came before any of the others in the list (pretty sure). Flim=flam man is probably earlier than that. Snake Oil Salesman pre-dates either of those.

“Meghan”, OP.

He's a real operator, that one!

R5 = Alexa

Kardashian/Jenner

Con artist. Con man. Con woman.

Shyster usually deals specifically with lawyers.

Grifter or someone on "the grift" has been in use for at least a decade.

It came back into use thanks to the 45th president and his criminal family enterprise.

"Grifter or someone on "the grift" has been in use for at least a CENTURY."

That's what I meant to type.

Trumpster

Huckster.

Modern day snake oil salesman, r17. We can also add in Goop with a healthy helping. Fucking grifters, all of them.

On TCM yesterday Ricardo Montalban said grafter not grifter. I noticed because I thought it was weird. But it is a thing.

A grifter cons and then disappears, moves on to another victim.

QVC, HSN predatory shysters

Jane and Bernie Sanders

I know it's not a new word, and, yes, I enjoyed the movie.

OP: "suddenly"

Oh, OK. Sure.

Jew bastard.

(Seriously!)

WTF, can you read? I said suddenly everyone's using it. As in *they* just learned the word, not I. Just like a few years ago everyone was using "problematic." It's a fad word that knocks all synonyms out of daily use.

GIGGILO!

People didn't just suddenly start using it, it's been common for a while. As others have noted, the 1990 film probably increased its usage more than anything else. If you've noticed a recent uptick, it's because we had a grifter-in-chief and his grifter family running wild for four years. It's a perfect word to describe all of them. They see the whole world as their mark.

I've always used grifter, but noticed an uptick in its use lately as well. Charlatan is another I prefer. If you want something less common, go for Chiseller or hoser.

Confidence trickster

R34 Good one! A particular favourite of mine!

Correction; I use grifter more in connection with someone taking a free ride, whether through conartistry involved or not to do so. Like a roommate taking advantage of what you buy, or people that conveniently never have enough money on them when you go out.

Grifter just doesn't cover a conartist enough, since as I said, it can apply to those that take advantage in general, whereas an actual conartist is also manipulative, dishonest, running a scam, etc. It's not much of a difference and defition wise grifter very much can be used to label a conartist, but it's a word that comes across too vague to convey there's a purposeful operation behind the grifting.

"Grifter" just has a pungent quality that a lot of these other words lack. It's redolent of an entire life built around running seedy, fly-by-night scams.

Swindler

I associate hustler with hooker.

Bunco artist