grift

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English

Etymology

American criminal underworld slang, 1906 (noun), 1915 (verb), thinning alteration of graft.[1][2][3] The lighter sound (‘a’ → ‘i’, /ɑː/ or /æ/ → /ɪ/) is associated with more subtle, sophisticated crime; compare swindle.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡɹɪft/
  • Audio (AU):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪft

Noun

grift (plural grifts)

  1. (US, slang) A confidence game or swindle. [from 1906]
    Hey, what's the grift? What are you trying to pull?

Synonyms

Translations

con game — see con game

Verb

grift (third-person singular simple present grifts, present participle grifting, simple past and past participle grifted)

  1. (transitive, US, slang) To obtain illegally, as by con game. [from early 20th c.]
  2. (intransitive, US, slang) To obtain money illegally. [from early 20th c.]

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “grift”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ A Dictionary of the Underworld: British and American, Eric Partridge (2015), p. 307
  3. ^ Word Origins...And How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone, Anatoly Liberman (2009), p. 32
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