grift

English

Etymology

American criminal underworld slang, 1906 (noun), 1915 (verb), alteration of graft (“corruption, illicit profit through corrupt means, bribe, ones occupation”), alteration perhaps influenced by similar sounding words, e.g. drift, etc., probably ultimately from Middle Dutch graft (“digging, ditch, canal, trench”) (modern Dutch gracht), related to Dutch graven (“to dig”), English grave (“to dig”).^[1]^[2]^[3]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡɹɪft/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪft

Noun

grift (plural grifts)

(US, slang) A confidence game or swindle. [from 1906]
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:deception

Hey, what's the grift? What are you trying to pull?
- 2022, Paul McAuley, Beyond the Burn Line, Gollancz, page 172:
  ‘Sounds like he’s trying to stretch out his grift for as long as possible,’ Gentle said. ‘Taking as much from his followers as he can before it falls apart.’

Derived terms

grifter

Translations

con game — see con game

Verb

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

(transitive, US, slang) To obtain illegally, as by con game. [from early 20th c.]
(intransitive, US, slang) To obtain money illegally. [from early 20th c.]
(intransitive, US, slang) To obtain money immorally or through deceitful means.

Translations

to obtain (money) illegally, as by con game

Danish: svindle
German: erschwindeln (de)
Hungarian: kicsal (hu)

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “grift”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
^ Eric Partridge (1949) A Dictionary of the Underworld, London: Macmillan Co., page 307
^ Word Origins...And How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone, Anatoly Liberman (2009), p. 32

Swedish

Noun

grift c

(archaic except in some compounds) a grave
Synonym: grav

Declension

Declension of grift
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	grift	griften	grifter	grifterna
Genitive	grifts	griftens	grifters	grifternas

Derived terms

References

[1] Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “grift”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

[2] Eric Partridge (1949) A Dictionary of the Underworld, London: Macmillan Co., page 307

[3] Word Origins...And How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone, Anatoly Liberman (2009), p. 32

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