Word of the Day

: April 6, 2022

grift

verb GRIFT

What It Means

Grift means "to obtain (money or property) illicitly (as in a confidence game)."

// The email scammer grifted thousands of dollars.

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grift in Context

"The lovelorn were grifted out of $547 million by dating-app scammers last year, a shocking 78% increase over the previous record $307 million in losses in 2020, according to the Federal Trade Commission." — Kerry J. Byrne, The New York Post, 13 Feb. 2022

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."