sharper

noun

sharp·​er ˈshär-pər 

: cheat sense 2

especially : a cheating gambler

Synonyms

• bilk
• bilker
• cheat
• cheater
• chiseler
• chiseller
• confidence man
• cozener
• defrauder
• dodger
• fakir
• finagler
• fraudster [chiefly British]
• hoaxer
• scammer
• scamster
• shark
• sharpie
• sharpy
• skinner
• swindler
• tricker
• trickster

Examples of sharper in a Sentence

carnival sharpers eager to relieve the yokels of their money

Recent Examples on the Web

Yet as Russian war atrocities have become more evident, and Ukraine’s need for heavy armor has increased, the lines have grown blurrier and the rhetoric sharper. —David E. Sanger, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2022

Both offer blistering acceleration and sharper handling than the standard model. —Eric Stafford, Car and Driver, 19 Feb. 2021

Where Super Mario 64 suffers is in its environmental textures, which don't appear to have been redrawn to look any sharper on higher-resolution screens. —Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 16 Sep. 2020

For example, there is the Butch Lewis Act, which has nothing at all to do with boxing but, rather, is a bill to protect private pensions from being looted by corporate sharpers. —Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 20 Jan. 2018

The payday-lending industry is a parasite on people who, for whatever reason, can’t establish themselves with the various sharpers in our mainstream banking industry. —Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 17 Jan. 2018

Other sharpers were Doc Frame, Major James S. Showers and Colonel Rickett, who ran the Senate Saloon. —Darryl Levings, kansascity, 26 Jan. 2018

And the aboveground economy will remain the province of the unindicted sharpers who did such a great job with it in 2008. —Charles P. Pierce, SI.com, 30 Sep. 2017

The sophomore from Colleyville has been a touch sharper on field goals than Jonathan Song in the fall practices. —Carlos Mendez, star-telegram, 14 Aug. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sharper

• carper

Kids Definition

sharper

noun

sharp·​er ˈshär-pər 

: cheat entry 2 sense 2, swindler