Synonyms of conning

conning 1 of 3

verb (1)

present participle of con

1

as in studying

to commit to memory

usually candidates con their entire campaign speech, right down to the jokes they supposedly ad-lib

Synonyms & Similar Words

• studying
• learning
• memorizing
• knowing
• remembering
• retaining
• understanding
• grasping
• getting
• recalling
• accepting
• apprehending
• thinking (of)
• comprehending
• absorbing
• recollecting
• reliving
• digesting
• minding
• reminiscing (about)
• harking back (to)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• forgetting
• unlearning
• ignoring
• neglecting
• disregarding
• overlooking
• slighting
• passing over
• misremembering
• disremembering
• slurring (over)
• overpassing

2

as in examining

to look over closely (as for judging quality or condition)

seemed to be conning his face for any sign of uncertainty

Synonyms & Similar Words

• examining
• surveying
• scanning
• reviewing
• inspecting
• viewing
• watching
• analyzing
• scrutinizing
• overseeing
• auditing
• checking (out)
• going over
• studying
• investigating
• exploring
• overlooking
• noticing
• dissecting
• combing
• observing
• researching
• perusing
• classifying
• probing
• parsing
• categorizing
• plumbing
• poring (over)
• delving (into)
• reinspecting
• resurveying
• picking over
• rereviewing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• missing
• skimming
• glancing (at or over)

conning

2 of 3

verb (2)

present participle of con

1

as in cheating

to rob by the use of trickery or threats

a fly-by-night operator who had conned hundreds of would-be homeowners out of their hard-earned money

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cheating
• hustling
• squeezing
• plucking
• screwing
• stinging
• sticking
• beating
• doing
• tricking
• defrauding
• swindling
• deceiving
• bilking
• victimizing
• fleecing
• suckering
• rooking
• exploiting
• shortchanging
• mulcting
• fooling
• bleeding
• shorting
• cozening
• diddling
• stiffing
• reaming
• fiddling
• chiseling
• gaffing
• betraying
• skinning
• hosing
• shaking down
• nobbling
• extorting
• ripping off
• doing in
• flimflamming
• duping
• thimblerigging
• chousing
• euchring
• taking for a ride
• gulling
• wrenching
• taking to the cleaners
• skunking
• overcharging
• gouging
• clipping
• nicking
• milking
• selling a bill of goods to
• wringing
• wresting
• soaking
• bamboozling
• double-crossing
• bitching
• fast-talking
• roping (in)

2

as in tricking

to cause to believe what is untrue

tried to con me into thinking that he had actually won the lottery

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tricking
• fooling
• deceiving
• duping
• hoodwinking
• deluding
• gulling
• misinforming
• bamboozling
• teasing
• suckering
• kidding
• misleading
• bluffing
• misguiding
• hoaxing
• cheating
• cozening
• snookering
• humbugging
• juggling
• spoofing
• gaffing
• catching
• having
• stinging
• beguiling
• stringing along
• sucking in
• snowing
• burning
• taking in
• having on
• faking out
• hornswoggling
• gammoning
• buffaloing
• doing a number on
• defrauding
• swindling
• pulling one's leg
• fleecing
• leading one down the garden path
• sticking
• pulling the wool over one's eyes
• rooking
• shortchanging
• mulcting
• hustling
• diddling
• putting on
• chiseling
• bleeding
• squeezing
• flimflamming
• skinning
• euchring

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• exposing
• revealing
• uncovering
• telling
• disclosing
• debunking
• unmasking
• showing up
• divulging
• undeceiving
• unveiling
• disabusing
• uncloaking
• disillusioning
• disenchanting

conning

3 of 3

verb (3)

present participle of conn

as in steering

to operate or control the course of

there was white-knuckle tension as the captain conned the gunboat through the mine-infested harbor

Synonyms & Similar Words

• steering
• piloting
• navigating
• hijacking
• helming
• commandeering

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of conning

Verb

There was at least one other incident in which Bustillo is accused of conning a player out of $4,000. — Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 28 May 2026

Looking to turn the tables, 80-year-old Poppy Montgomery launches a mission to defraud the fraudsters conning the elderly online. — Diya Chacko, Oc Register, 18 May 2026

How to get out of an awkward situation in order to avoid booking that plane ticket back to New York, where nothing much awaits her, after conning her way into a stranger’s home? — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 9 Apr. 2026

Often these are aimed at either conning applicants into paying up-front fees or providing personal information that the scammers later use to gain access to credit in the victim’s name. — Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Mar. 2026

Their father, my grandfather, was a career low-life criminal and was in jail all the time for forgery and conning people. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2025

Officials allege that Bester bribed several prison employees into helping with his escape plan, including conning his way into an isolation cell that was located near a fire escape and in an area with limited cameras, per the docuseries, NBC News and GroundUp. — Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025