fakir

1 a dishonest person who uses clever means to cheat others out of something of value a traveling carnival that was run by fakirs preying on small-town rubes Synonyms bilk, bilker, cheat, cheater, chiseler (or chiseller), confidence man, cozener, defrauder, dodger, trickster, finagler, fraudster [chiefly British], hoaxer, scammer, scamster, shark, sharper, sharpie (or sharpy), skinner, swindler, trickerRelated Words double-crosser, double-dealer; bluffer, charlatan, fake, faker, humbug, impostor (or imposter), mountebank, phony (also phoney), pretender, quack, quacksalver, ringer, sham; adventurer, fox, gamesman, knave, prankster, rascal, rogue; fast-talker, slick, slicker, slickster, slyboots, smoothy (or smoothie), wheeler-dealer; plotter, schemer, sneak, sneaker; blackleg, cardsharp (or cardsharper)

2 one who makes false claims of identity or expertise a fakir peddling patent medicines that were mostly liquor and sugar Synonyms charlatan, fake, faker, impostor, fraud, hoaxer, humbug, mountebank, phony (also phoney), pretender, quack, quacksalver, ringer, shamRelated Words copycat, imitator, impersonator, mimic; actor, bluffer, counterfeiter, deceiver, dissembler, duper, feigner, misleader, operator, trickster; poseur; cozener, defrauder, dodger, fraudster [chiefly British], scammer, scamster, sharper, sharpie (or sharpy), skinner, swindlerNear Antonyms ace, adept, authority, crackerjack (also crackajack), expert, maestro, master, past master, professional, virtuoso, whiz, wizard