Idioms

flimflam artist

a flimflam artist

Someone who acts deceptively and tries to trick people. The word "flimflam" is thought to be of Scandinavian origin. I suspect those guys are flimflam artists, that's why they want so much money up front. I tried out Jane's so called "revolutionary" invention, and the piece of junk doesn't even work! She's a total flimflam artist. I wish I'd realized that guy was a flimflam artist before I gave him the last of my money.
See also: artist, flimflam
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

flimflam artist

n. someone who practices confidence tricks or deceptions on someone else. I don’t trust that flimflam artist at all.
See also: artist, flimflam
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

flimflam artist

A swindler. Flimflam artist indulged in confidence games in which the victim is persuaded to buy worthless property. These crooks go after bigger game than street hustlers, card sharps, or bait and switchers do because of the time and preparation that their scams require. “Flimflam” has been traced back to a Scandinavian word, although folk etymology has come up with a connection to an early 20th-century New York City law firm of dubious reputation, Flam & Flam.
See also: artist, flimflam
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price
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References in periodicals archive
The losing pitcher was Clay Buchholz, the Red Sox flighty righty who has turned into a flimflam artist, the master of bait and switch marketing.
Sox' will sapped; Woes continue for Buchholz
Witness the high-wealth individuals and funds who lost their money with the flimflam artist Bernard Madoff.
Simple finance
People called me a fraud, a huckster, and a flimflam artist. I didn't mind.
Who am I?
With a growing chorus of flimflam artists pushing such "scholarship," it is incumbent on all sober and cautious commentators to set the historical record straight.
Scholars should know some stories can't end well
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Hewlett Packard Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina to be on guard against "charlatans and flimflam artists" masquerading as consultants.
NASA enlists Behavioral Science Technology, Inc. to lead agency-wide culture change
The thought has crossed the mind of anyone who who has ever been jolted from sublime nap-time slumber by pesky initiative petitioners, fast-talking flimflam artists, earnest proselytizers or crumb crunchers selling coupon books: Is there a legal way to keep these folks from my doorbell - or at the least, limit their numbers?
Door-to-door justice
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