I'm struggling with the right word to fit this person or situation. Let's say someone's having a party and says he'll buy the pizza for $60. He goes to pick it up, but before leaving, a cousin hands him the money to pay for it. After he returns with the pizza, his mom takes him aside and hands him $60, saying "I'll pay for the pizza". Then his dad hands him $60 and says "I'll pay for the pizza". Then his sister gives him $20 and says she'll pay for part of it. And then a couple aunts and uncles offer him reimbursement. In short, the guy never actually paid for the pizza using his money, but took everyone's money, choosing not to say that he's already been paid. Meanwhile, everyone at the party feels like they paid for it, but really they just put money in his pocket. Maybe his thought was "hey, they wanted to give me money, so I just let them." He's not a "cheat", he's not a "liar", and he's not "crafty". I'd say it's scummy, but that's more of an insult than a description. Is it dirty? Underhanded? Deceitful? Those all seem too generic. What's a good word for this? What word would you use to describe someone like this? Or the situation? I've been playing with this idea for a while and was wondering what the writers thought. Thanks!
He is a cheat, a liar, and he's crafty, which makes me think you're looking for something nicer... but then you don't like scummy because it's an insult. So I'm a bit confused what you're looking for here?
I absolutely agree that he's a cheat, a liar, and crafty. Are you looking for a word that he would proudly use to describe himself? I suppose "enterprising" is one option. opportunistic sharp shrewd devious (obviously not part of "proudly" describing himself, and neither are the rest) deceitful duplicitous sneaky calculating underhanded double-dealing shifty
Tricky, two-faced, tricksters Metaphorically, A Fox - works because Foxes in a lot of cultures are considered con artist or scammers or tricksters
Depending on your point of view, one could simply say that he is clever. Or if this wasn't his plan, and people just gave him money on their own volition, he's simply lucky that they keep giving him cash for the pizza. Or, he's beguiling.
I have to agree with everyone else that he is a cheat, a liar, and crafty. He may well have a cleverly crafted little logical subroutine that internally absolves him of his culpability and makes a silk purse of his sow's ear, but... what he is is unscrupulous.
