What does conwoman mean?
Conwoman is a noun meaning a woman who deceives others in order to defraud them. It is a specifically gendered form of con artist and con man, terms that can refer to a swindler of any gender. In historical and literary contexts, the word is especially associated with women who used charm, persuasion, or a supposed business opportunity to deceive their victims. Its meaning remains clear today, although con artist is usually more common and more appropriate when a speaker wants to avoid unnecessary gender marking. Conwoman can still be useful when discussing a female deceiver, particularly in descriptions of older texts, periods, or cases in which the subject's gender is relevant. The word distinguishes not the method of deception but the gender of the person responsible for it.
nounA woman who deceives others in order to defraud them, especially by obtaining money through false promises or persuasive schemes.
- A woman who uses deception, persuasion, or false promises to defraud other people.
"The newspaper exposed a conwoman who had persuaded several investors to pay for property she did not own."
"The investigator exposed a conwoman who had persuaded investors to buy shares in a nonexistent company."
"In the period novel, the seemingly respectable conwoman gradually takes possession of the entire household."
The regular plural changes -woman to -women.
"The novel portrays two conwomen operating in different parts of the city."
A conwoman is a confidence trickster who is specifically a woman; today, the more usual gender-neutral term is con artist.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does conwoman come from?
The first element con is a clipped form of confidence, as in confidence trick, a term that emerged in early-19th-century English. Conwoman was formed analogously to con man and con artist by adding the element woman, denoting a female deceiver. Its ultimate Latin relatives include confidence, confide, confidant, and confirmation, all based on confidere, meaning “to trust.”
How conwoman is actually used
Conwoman is less common than the gender-neutral con artist. It is especially associated with older literary and historical usage, and modern speakers usually prefer con artist unless the subject's gender is relevant. It is not inherently derogatory, though its gendered form can appear unnecessarily emphatic.