As a term of contempt: = creature, n.

a defrauder.

A person who prowls, in various senses; spec. (a) (formerly) †one who seeks advantage by any underhand or dishonourable means; a parasite; a…

One who pilfers or filches in a mean fashion; a petty thief, swindler, rogue.

One who defrauds, one who fraudulently withholds or takes what belongs to another.

A defrauder, cheat.

A member of a gang of swindlers, whose role is to feign friendship with the victim (see quot. 1591). historical in later use.

One of a gang of cozeners or swindlers (see quots.).

A person who engages in dubious or underhand practices for the sake of personal gain; spec. a low-ranking lawyer who abuses the law. Obsolete.

A cheat, a swindler; spec. a person who deceives a trader by substituting a box containing coins of lesser value for a box of coins which has…

A deceitful person; a cheat, a swindler.

A cheat, a rogue; a pick-pocket.

A member of a gang of swindlers (see quot. 1608). Obsolete.

one who ‘crossbites’, a swindler.

One who ‘sharks’ or lives by cheating and dishonesty; a cheat, thief, swindler.

A worthless and impecunious person who gains a precarious living by sponging on others, by executing disreputable commissions, cheating at play, and…

slang. A swindler, a sharper who makes victims of the simple or credulous. Obsolete.

One who cheats or deals fraudulently; a deceiver; a swindler. (A systematic or habitual cheater is now called a cheat, n.1)

One who foists, in senses of the verb. A cheat, sharper.

A person who commits fraudulent operations; a thief, a pickpocket.

A cheat, a rogue.

(In negative sense.) A schemer; a person who lives by his or her wits; a promoter of bogus or unsound business ventures; a cheat, a swindler. Now rare…

(see 4f); also, a tobacconist.

Applied to a person. A swindler, sharper; an impostor or ‘shark’ who lives by his wits at the expense of his dupes. Obsolete.

one who firks.

? A swindler, fraudulent dealer. Obsolete.

A sharper or swindler; a sly or treacherous fellow. Obsolete.

One who pillages or plunders; an extortioner. cunning shaver n. a swindler, sharper.

a sharper or swindler (French chevalier d'industrie).

A cheat, a swindler.

Applied to a person. One who cheats; a swindler.

A cheat, swindler, rogue; one who lives by his wits and by taking advantage of the simplicity of others; esp. a fraudulent gamester. Cf. shark, n.2

(From the character attributed to horse-dealers.) A crafty or fraudulent bargainer; a cheat. (Cf. jockey, v. 1.)

A person who rooks or cheats.

A person that discovers or seeks out fools; a person or thing that reveals someone to be a fool; spec. a scam or scammer.

A cheat.

Cant. (See quot. 1699) Obsolete.

A person who sets up a bubble company; a swindler, a cheat. Now historical and rare.

A thief; (also) a swindler. Obsolete (U.S. slang in later use).

slang. A sharper, a swindler: see also quot. 1846.

A person who uses deception, trickery, etc., to obtain or take something, esp. money; a confidence trickster, a fraudster.

slang. Originally: a person who cheats in a lottery. Later more generally: a swindler; an embezzler. Now rare.

A person who engages in the act or process of swindling; = macer, n.2 Obsolete.

One who gouges: (a) one who thrusts out an antagonist's eye; (b) one who cheats, a swindler.

A cheat, thief, or sharper. Cf. earlier needlepoint, n. 2. Obsolete.

One who flies by night; one addicted to nocturnal excursions (see also quot. 1796. Also slang, one who defrauds his landlord or creditors by…

= sharper, n.1

slang. A person who deprives others of their money, property, etc.; a thief, a swindler, a cheat. Now historical and rare.

A mean swindler or cheat; one who diddles people out of what belongs to them.

= maceman n.

= maceman n.

A swindler, a cheat.

one who takes in simpletons; a swindler; also used of a horse.

a person who performs a moonlight flit; = fly-by-night, n. 1.

A swindler. U.S. ? Obsolete. (Cf. burn, v.1 14f.)

(A name for) a perpetrator of any of various ruses to raise prices or otherwise cheat buyers at an auction; spec. a fraudulent bidder, esp. in a…

(A name for) a perpetrator of any of various ruses to raise prices or otherwise cheat buyers at an auction; = Peter Funk, n.

a swindler, a confidence trickster.

= macer, n.2

A person who gets the better of others by dishonest or fraudulent means; a swindler.

slang. A swindler, cheat; one who ‘wangles’.

figurative. A person who blatantly and unfairly overcharges or swindles someone. Cf. highway robbery, n. 2.

a swindler.

(a) A drunkard. (b) A swindler.

A ‘crook’, thief, sharper (in quot. 1879, a convict). Australian slang.

One who chouses, a swindler, cheat.

slang (originally and chiefly Australian). A person who deceives or dupes others; a swindler, a trickster; (sometimes more generally) a person who…

derogatory. A fraudulent or unscrupulous person, originally and esp. a politician.

colloquial of a person: One who is not what he appears to be; an impostor, a humbug; spec. U.S. (see quot. 1895).

A type of smooth-spoken and sharp-practising New Englander; hence gen. any resourceful trickster or ‘spiv’. Also attributive.

One who makes money by shady or dishonest means; a thief; a swindler.

A swindler, a cheat. Obsolete. rare.

A person, esp. a trader, who defrauds or cheats others; a swindler, a con artist. Also with modifying word denoting a particular trade.

colloquial. A swindler, cheat. Cf. chisel, v.1 3.

one who tweedles.

A person who engages in rorting (see rorting, n.). See also poofter rorter n. at poofter, n.1 compounds.

a swindler.

a swindler.

colloquial (originally U.S.). = sharper, n.1 2.

= sharper, n.1 2.

U.S. slang. A clever or smart person; a cheat or swindler. Cf. slicker, n. 3; slickster, n.

A swindler.

a person who carries out a rip-off; a thief, a fraudster.

Unreliable, dishonest, ‘crooked’. Hence as n., one engaged in irregular or illegal business activities.

= rip-off artist n.