cozen
Dupe through guile
To cozen is to deceive or cheat, typically through clever manipulation or trickery.
The word is literary and old-fashioned, carrying a sense of cunning persuasion rather than outright theft: He cozened her out of her inheritance with false promises.
A cozener uses charm or guile to get what they want from an unwary victim.
Cleverly deceptive
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
- wilySkilled at deception
- slyCleverly deceptive
- artfulCleverly deceptive
scheming · devious · underhanded · sneaky · foxy · slick · guileful · shrewd
Absurd or obvious pretense
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
- guiseExternal manner shown
- ruseDeliberate act of deception
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
dissimulation · feint · masquerade · imposture · sham · counterfeit · false pretenses · smokescreen
hoodwink
Trick into false belief
trick · fool · gull · bamboozle · delude · bluff · defraud · bilk · swindle · cheat
crafty
Cleverly deceptive
artful · scheming · devious · underhanded · sneaky · foxy · slick · guileful · shrewd · calculating
charade
Absurd or obvious pretense
subterfuge · dissimulation · feint · masquerade · imposture · sham · counterfeit · false pretenses · smokescreen · deception