grifter

1)A confidence man/woman. The term was used by professional con artists in the 19th and 20th centuries to describe people in their profession. The Grifters, a 1963 noir fiction novel by Jim Thompson, portrayed a family of grifters who are all emotionally managed. . The characters describe being "on the grift" the way someone else might describe drinking and drugs. "I can stop any time I want," says Roy to his mother. . 2) (modern) A sell out in the political opinion world. This noun is increasingly used by progressives (and some conservatives) to describe people such as Candace Owens and other opinion makers whose conservatism is seen as facile and inorganic, born mostly out of of a need for corporate funding than actual convictions.