The most skilled or notorious con artist or fraud perpetrator; a master deceiver.
From 'arch-' (chief) plus 'swindler' (from German 'Schwindler', meaning fraudster, derived from 'schwindeln', to be dizzy or deceive). This compound reflects the 18th-century flourishing of 'arch-' terms to denote superlative villains.
In literature and popular crime stories, the 'archswindler' is basically the crime world's equivalent of a CEO—a title that appeared mostly in 18th-19th century texts to describe the most notorious con artists. It shows how language creates hierarchies even among criminals!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.