conned 1 of 3

verb (1)

past tense of con
1
as in learned
to commit to memory usually candidates con their entire campaign speech, right down to the jokes they supposedly ad-lib

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in scanned
to look over closely (as for judging quality or condition) seemed to be conning his face for any sign of uncertainty

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

conned

2 of 3

verb (2)

past tense of con
1
as in cheated
to rob by the use of trickery or threats a fly-by-night operator who had conned hundreds of would-be homeowners out of their hard-earned money

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2
as in tricked
to cause to believe what is untrue tried to con me into thinking that he had actually won the lottery

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

conned

3 of 3

verb (3)

past tense of conn
as in steered
to operate or control the course of there was white-knuckle tension as the captain conned the gunboat through the mine-infested harbor

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of conned
Verb
When Stapley was 10, her mother lost her life’s savings after being conned by a couple posing as investors. — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 14 July 2026 The centerpiece of his recent column is a list of quarterly rate increases after reform passed, presented as proof consumers were conned. — David Wilson, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2026 One of Sharma's gangster associates tells Keefe that once Sharma realized he'd been conned, there was no way Zac was leaving the apartment alive. — Frank Langfitt, NPR, 4 Apr. 2026 Nationwide, scammers in 2024 conned Americans for $119 billion, an amount similar in size to the economy of New Hampshire, according to the report. — Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 16 Mar. 2026 Women who could be trampled by men, conned, deceived. — Shafiq Najib, ABC News, 3 Mar. 2026 What makes this case different is that key backers of the measure got conned, too. — Daniel Borenstein, Mercury News, 9 Jan. 2026 Dakota Root, who was conned into depositing $1,200 into a crypto ATM at a Circle K in Indiana, said the experience changed his perception of the neighborhood store. — Curt Devine, CNN Money, 17 Dec. 2025 So there's some serious temptation to fall back to old habits when they're critter-napped by a new crew called the Bad Girls and conned into stealing an experimental rocket. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for conned
  1. learned
  2. scanned
  3. cheated
  4. tricked
  5. steered
  6. studied
  7. examined
  8. hustled
Verb
  • Investigators later learned that days after Tran’s killing, the suspects identified by the informant had been arrested in unrelated incidents in Southern California.
    — Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Upon arrival, officers learned from medical personnel that Dyer had died of his injuries at the scene, police said.
    — Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of learned
Verb
  • Instead, a camera from Clear, the facial recognition company, scanned my face and the gate opened.
    — Andrew Zucker, Vanity Fair, 14 Aug. 2026
  • The researchers scanned the brains of eight dogs — six border collies, a labrador and a golden retriever — while showing them images of strangers with either a happy or a neutral expression.
    — Lianne Kolirin, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of scanned
Verb
  • Bo told Lu that if the audit produced evidence that he had been cheated, Wang should go to prison.
    — Hailey Wang, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
  • In one case, several systems worked on a problem in parallel, one cheated outright, and the system assigned to summarize their work did not flag it.
    — Craig S. Smith, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of cheated
Verb
  • Giovannoni showed that the free, open-source tool successfully tricked scammers into giving away their own private personal information, such as phone numbers, addresses, and even bank account details.
    — Kim Key, PC Magazine, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Wilson didn’t arrive at her position because Republicans tricked her into it.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of tricked
Verb
  • Since then, the music industry — with streaming trends steered by algorithms and artists striking gold overnight on TikTok — has changed dramatically.
    — Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Silicon Valley private schools are trading silent auctions for cap tables with a handful of Bay Area campuses now running miniature venture funds steered by parent-investors from Sequoia, Lightspeed, and Battery.
    — Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of steered
Verb
  • After graduating from Proviso West High School, Norris studied at Triton College while working as a secretary.
    — Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026
  • To scientists, the idea that the link between vaccines and autism simply hasn’t been studied enough – as Kennedy often claims – is astounding.
    — Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of studied
Verb
  • Schrell examined whether annual production campaigns would be more effective, but concluded that the approach would not make economic or operational sense because of costs, limited hot-cell capacity and the isotope’s relatively short half-life.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The study examined 1,089 working adults residing on lower apartment floors in Tokyo.
    — Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of examined
Verb
  • The over-all technical director, Oscar Lopez, whose day job entails managing events at Resorts World, hustled crews carefully among setups and sites.
    — Paige Williams, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
  • During a break Saturday, Freeling hustled home and caught two episodes before returning to the hotel where the rookies and younger players stay during camp ahead of curfew.
    — Joseph Person, New York Times, 27 July 2026
Definition of hustled

Browse Nearby Words

connect (with)
conned
conning
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Cite this Entry

“Conned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conned. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of conned for Spanish Speakers

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