con game

American  

noun

Slang.

1. confidence game.

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Etymology

Origin of con game

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Durant was a con game presented by the front office — even if they were conning themselves.

From Washington Times • Jun. 7, 2022

The movies are an industry, a con game with a half-guilty conscience.

From New York Times • May 13, 2021

In this 1994 novel, the very title is subversive, a Bengali corruption of the English “Herbert,” and protagonist Harbart Sarkar runs a con game: “Conversations With the Dead.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 22, 2019

These two people are recklessly messing with the world as if it's just another con game, in which they'll take their profits before moving on to the next chapter of their spoiled, mindless lives.

From Salon • Mar. 20, 2019

Before I get to a serious application, I’d like to mention another con game which works because of confusion about conditional probability.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos