いかさま師し

い

か

さ

ま

し

Meanings

Refers to a person who deceives others for money, especially in gambling or confidence tricks. Often carries a slightly old-fashioned or theatrical tone.

彼かれはいかさま師しに騙だまされて大たい金きんを失うしなった。
He was tricked by a con artist and lost a large sum of money.
あの男おとこは手て品じなのような手て口ぐちを使つかういかさま師しだ。
That man is a swindler who uses sleight-of-hand tricks.

See all 4 example sentences ›

Kanji

師expert, teacher, master
如likeness, like, such as
何what
様Esq., way, manner

Related words

詐さ欺ぎ師し
詐欺師 is a more modern and legal term for a fraudster or scammer, while いかさま師 has a more colloquial, old-fashioned feel, often associated with street cons or gambling cheats.
ペテン師し
ペテン師 is a near-synonym for a swindler or con man, but いかさま師 emphasizes the act of cheating itself (いかさま), whereas ペテン師 comes from 'peten' (trickery) and can sound slightly more dated or literary.

Written forms

いかさま師しUsage100%
Standard kanji-kana mixed spelling; 師 means 'master' or 'specialist'.
如何様師いかさまし
Full kanji spelling using ateji for いかさま; rarely used in modern writing.

Etymology

いかさま is a word meaning 'fraud' or 'cheating', of uncertain origin, possibly related to いかが (how) or a contraction of いかがさま. 師 is a suffix meaning 'master' or 'specialist', so the compound literally means 'master of cheating'.