as in cheat
a dishonest person who uses clever means to cheat others out of something of value
taken in by a persuasive confidence man using the Internet
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Recent Examples of confidence man
The image could be a tintype from a late-Victorian play about a confidence man who preys on wealthy young widows.
—
Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 14 July 2025
Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 14 July 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confidence man
Noun
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Others might feel the author cheats here, leaving it up to the reader to decide.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
11 Jan. 2026
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The movie follows a group of petty cheats, liars and drunks who are duped by nefarious opportunists who visit their crumbling town.—
John Penner,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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But my collection intentionally ignored the fraudulent exploits of billionaire heirs, tax dodgers and corporate magnates — defense contracts, government lobbying, bank accounts in Switzerland, shell companies in Panama, citizenship of Antigua and political asylum in London.—
Snigdha Poonam,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
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Denise Rich, a Democratic donor, gave four hundred and fifty thousand dollars to his Presidential-library foundation, and Clinton, on his final day in office, pardoned her ex-husband, Marc Rich, a tax dodger and a sanctions evader who’d fled to Switzerland.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
11 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Specifically, on average, silky sharks spent only about 47 percent of their time inside the Galápagos Marine Reserve, an area often held up as a global gold standard for marine protection.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
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The attack at Point Plomer comes a day after a surfer in his 20s sustained serious leg injuries when he was bitten by a shark at North Steyne Beach, Manly, in New South Wales.—
Latoya Gayle,
PEOPLE,
20 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Confidence man.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confidence%20man. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.
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