grifter

noun grifters

1. US, informal A con artist; someone who pulls confidence games; a swindler, scammer, huckster, hustler, and/or charlatan. We're all grifters. So we sell each other out for a nickel.

   Similar: bristler, bunco artist, bunco-steerer, chiseler, con artist, confidence artist, confidence trickster, conman, flimflammer, grifter, lugger, magsman

2. Internet, colloquial, especially A manipulator or otherwise generally corrupt person who "games" a system, group of people, or other entity for selfish gains; especially of a political "sell-out" perceived as lacking integrity. The latest act in the Madness of King Donald drama playing globally on every channel underlined the increasingly delusional world the anti-hero inhabits, his fantasies fed and indulged by a cast of sycophants, lackeys and straight grifters, all in it for what they can get.
3. Internet, derogatory A YouTuber or other content creator who produces low-effort content critiquing a particular franchise or trend, particularly content perceived as ragebait or done for monetary gain. But with changing technology, criticism has entered a new era thanks to YouTube and live streaming. In the middle of all this growth is a pseudo-intellectual fungus which seems to be spreading rapidly. In my article about Box Office numbers I mentioned the phrase “grifter critic”.