conning
UK[ˈkɒnɪŋ]US[ˈkɑːnɪŋ]
v
Present participle or gerund of 'con', meaning to persuade someone to do or believe something by lying or tricking them.
n
The act of swindling or deceiving someone.
Etymology
The verb 'con', meaning to swindle, is a 19th-century American English shortening of the term 'confidence man', first recorded in 1849. 'Confidence man' referred to a swindler who gained a victim's trust ('confidence') before defrauding them. The term 'confidence' itself entered English from Old French, ultimately from Latin 'confidentia' (firm trust, assurance), from 'confidere' (to trust fully). The present participle/gerund form 'conning' thus directly inherits this history, encapsulating the act of executing a deception based on false trust.
Analysis
The word 'conning' is the inflected form of the verb 'con'. The base 'con' is a simplex morpheme derived from a clipping of the longer word 'confidence', as in 'confidence trick'.
Examples
He was arrested for conning elderly people out of their life savings.
She realized she was being conned when the promised investment never materialized.
The art of conning relies on the perpetrator's charm and the victim's gullibility.