sharper

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree English sharp English -er English sharper From sharp + -er.

1. comparative form of sharp: more sharp

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English sharp English -er English sharper From sharp + -er.

1. A swindler; a cheat; a professional gambler who makes his living by cheating.

   “I could plainly diſcover from whence one Family derives a long Chin; why a ſecond hath abounded with Knaves for two Generations, and Fools for two more; why a third happened to be crack-brained, and a fourth to be Sharpers.”

   “Our young gentlemen who go to Rome will do well to be upon their guard against a set of sharpers, (some of them of our own country,) who deal in pictures and antiques, and very often impose upon the uninformed stranger, by selling him trash, as the productions of the most celebrated artists.”