conned

[ kond ]

adjective

1. relating to, or being the victim of, a swindle, scam, or trick:

   Most of these schemes play off the conned person's greed and vice.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of con ².

Word History and Origins

Origin of conned¹

First recorded in 1975–80; con ²( def ) + -ed ²( def ) for the adjective; con ²( def ) + -ed ¹( def ) for the verb

Example Sentences

To put it bluntly, the population of this oil-rich nation has been conned on a colossal scale for many years.

From BBC

"As a result of their unlawful actions, defendants have been unjustly enriched to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in value, while Mr Musk has been conned along with the public," it says.

From BBC

Anthony Farrer, owner of the Timepiece Gentleman, conned dozens of customers out of over $5.6 million, according to the guilty plea.

From Los Angeles Times

A related problem is that, once someone has fallen for the lies of an apparently extremely mentally disturbed leader, it often feels embarrassing to acknowledge he or she was conned.

From Salon

She had conned people into believing she would inherit huge sums of money on her 25th birthday, and that they would be richly rewarded for giving her loans.

From BBC