View synonyms for grift

grift

[ grift ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

(sometimes used with a plural verb) a group of methods for obtaining money falsely through the use of swindles, frauds, dishonest gambling, etc.
money obtained from such practices.

verb (used without object)

to profit by the use of grift:
a man known to have grifted for many years.

verb (used with object)

to obtain (money or other profit) by grift.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of grift¹

First recorded in 1910–15; perhaps alteration of graft ²

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Example Sentences

Venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, who co-founded Palantir Technologies and is a Trump supporter, said on X: “It’s wrong to steal my money for grift on the left; it’s also wrong to tax me for crypto bro schemes.”

From Los Angeles Times

“When did everything turn into a grift?” asks a young man named Tobey midway through Brian Castleberry’s “The Californians,” an ambitious, widescreen novel about the ugliness that often ensues when art and commerce collide.

From Los Angeles Times

In this way, Tobey answers his own question: The grift happens when we don’t pay attention to what we’re destroying for the sake of a dollar.

From Los Angeles Times

The weekend before the inauguration, Trump cashed in on his cultists' faith with a grift so obvious it would make Jim Bakker blush: releasing meme coins named after himself and his wife.

From Salon

Judd Legum of Popular Info summed up the move with, "Trump has turned the inauguration itself into a brazen grift, launching a meme coin hours before being sworn in."

From Salon

griffon grifter

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