card shark

noun

ˈkärd-ˌshärk 

plural card sharks also cardsharks

: a person who makes money by cheating at card games : card sharp

A former Russian interior minister … described him to a television interviewer in 1999 as a petty crook and card shark, known for bilking travelers and soldiers at Sochi, the Soviet Black Sea resort.

—John Tagliabue and Steven Lee Myers

also : a skilled card player

At a time when children's schedules are packed and digital distractions are everywhere, youthful card sharks are increasingly rare. "A whole generation of consumers didn't learn to play cards the way an entire prior generation did," says P.J. Katien, vice president, sales and marketing, for the U.S. Playing Card Co. …

—Sue Shellenbarger

Examples of card shark in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Governors are like card sharks when dealing out budgets. —George Skelton, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2025

But the news media and public should keep their eyes on the card shark. —George Skelton, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2025

This pack of leftovers also boasts Channing Tatum as Gambit, a supernatural card shark whose greatest adversary was Fox’s greenlight committee. —Matt Donnelly, Variety, 30 July 2024

Soon Youssef has a new girlfriend, Stephanie (Zoé Marchal), a card shark with a crypto fortune. —Robert Daniels, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1877, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for card shark

• ballpark
• benchmark
• birthmark
• daymark
• earmark
• embark
• hallmark
• landmark
• monarch
• postmark
• remark
• skylark