grifted; grifting; grifts
: to obtain (money or property) illicitly (as in a confidence game)
: to acquire money or property illicitly
grift
noun
grifter
noun
Did you know?
A grifter might be a pickpocket, a crooked gambler, scammer, or a confidence man. Grift may have come from graft, a slightly older word meaning "to acquire dishonestly."
Examples of grift in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Caveat emptor, Minogue, because grifters gotta grift.
—
Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 4 Oct. 2025
He's been masquerading as a businessman for decades as nothing he's involved in has prospered except by using other people's money to find loophole after loophole and grift after grift.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Such a worldview, rooted in distrust, opportunism and a disregard for the commons, legitimises grift by framing it as natural and inevitable.
—Dave Winsborough, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
The idea of focusing on President Biden is a way of distracting from Donald Trump's efforts to completely undermine our democracy, to grift and engage in corruption and to help out his billionaire buddies by cutting their taxes while taking Medicaid away from the American people.
—Khaleda Rahman
shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
But a clumsy execution could undermine Trump’s attempt to ingratiate himself, perpetuating the impression that the crypto industry is a breeding ground for scams and grift.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 4 Sep. 2024
And as unctuous as the IBA proved to be, their leaders made a fair point about IOC grift that has remained a stain on the Olympic movement: why, exactly, do members receive five-star accommodation and ludicrous per diems while many athletes struggle to survive?
—Sean Gregory / Paris, TIME, 11 Aug. 2024
Austin residents are reporting an influx of scammers attempting to grift personal, financial information, Austin Energy officials said Thursday.
—Cross Harris, Austin American-Statesman, 9 Aug. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 4 Oct. 2025
He's been masquerading as a businessman for decades as nothing he's involved in has prospered except by using other people's money to find loophole after loophole and grift after grift.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Such a worldview, rooted in distrust, opportunism and a disregard for the commons, legitimises grift by framing it as natural and inevitable.
—Dave Winsborough, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
The idea of focusing on President Biden is a way of distracting from Donald Trump's efforts to completely undermine our democracy, to grift and engage in corruption and to help out his billionaire buddies by cutting their taxes while taking Medicaid away from the American people.
—Khaleda Rahman
shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
But a clumsy execution could undermine Trump’s attempt to ingratiate himself, perpetuating the impression that the crypto industry is a breeding ground for scams and grift.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 4 Sep. 2024
And as unctuous as the IBA proved to be, their leaders made a fair point about IOC grift that has remained a stain on the Olympic movement: why, exactly, do members receive five-star accommodation and ludicrous per diems while many athletes struggle to survive?
—Sean Gregory / Paris, TIME, 11 Aug. 2024
Austin residents are reporting an influx of scammers attempting to grift personal, financial information, Austin Energy officials said Thursday.
—Cross Harris, Austin American-Statesman, 9 Aug. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Grift.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grift. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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