grift

grift

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/
• 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

• See also Thesaurus:deception

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. “grift” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
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