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Grifter vs Con - What's the difference?

grifter | con |

As nouns the difference between grifter and con

is that grifter is a con man. Someone who pulls confidence games while con is a disadvantage of something, especially when contrasted with its advantages (pros).

As a verb con is

to study, especially in order to gain knowledge of.

As a proper noun Con is

a male given name, a diminutive form of Conor or Cornelius.

As an initialism CON is

Certificate of Need.

grifter

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A con man. Someone who pulls confidence games.
  • :1939 . "We're all grifters. So we sell each other out for a nickel". The Big Sleep .
  • :1958 . "That was the train the drunks and the sinners rodeā€”the gambling men and the grifters, the big-time spenders, the skirt-chasers, and all the jolly crew". That Hell-Bound Train .
  • con

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) connen, from (etyl) . More at (l).

    Verb

    (conn)
  • (rare) To study, especially in order to gain knowledge of.
  • * Wordsworth
  • Fixedly did look / Upon the muddy waters which he conned / As if he had been reading in a book.
  • * Burke
  • I did not come into Parliament to con my lesson.
  • * 1963 , D'Arcy Niland, Dadda jumped over two elephants: short stories :
  • The hawk rested on a crag of the gorge and conned the terrain with a fierce and frowning eye.''
  • (rare, archaic) To know, understand, acknowledge.
  • * 1579 , , Iune:
  • Of Muses Hobbinol, I conne no skill
  • to conduct the movements of a ship at sea.
  • Etymology 2

    Abbreviation of (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A disadvantage of something, especially when contrasted with its advantages (pros ).
  • pros and cons
    Synonyms
    * disadvantage
    Antonyms
    * pro

    Etymology 3

    Shortened from (convict).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang) A convicted criminal, a convict.
  • Etymology 4

    From (con trick), shortened from (confidence trick).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang) A fraud; something carried out with the intention of deceiving, usually for personal, often illegal, gain.
  • Synonyms
    * See also

    Verb

    (conn)
  • (slang) To trick or defraud, usually for personal gain.
  • Synonyms
    * (to be conned) be sold a pup

    Etymology 5

    From earlier (cond), from (etyl) conduen, from (etyl) conduire, from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • (nautical) To give the necessary orders to the helmsman to steer a ship in the required direction through a channel etc. (rather than steer a compass direction)
  • Noun

    (-)
  • (nautical) The navigational direction of a ship
  • Derived terms
    * conning tower * take the con

    Etymology 6

    or (conference).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An organized gathering such as a convention or conference.
  • See also

    * cone * mod cons