People who graft plants or tissues together, or colloquially, people engaged in corrupt practices or dishonest schemes for personal gain.
From Middle English and Old French grafte, from Greek graphion (stylus). Grafting as plant-joining uses the tool metaphor. The corrupt meaning emerged in 19th-century slang.
The word 'grafter' beautifully captures corruption through metaphor—grafting is stitching different plant parts together unnaturally, just like corrupt officials artificially stitch themselves into systems they don't belong in.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.