I need a word or idiom for someone who takes advantage of you because they know you like them. In relationships, I heard the word "user", as someone who uses their romantic partners for material gain.
More specifically, I'm thinking of someone who guesses what kind of people you like and then acts like that until you like them and start offering yourself to help with various things they need. Edit: for this one I could do with a name of a famous character from a novel.
In terms of a literary character, Becky Sharp in Thackeray's Vanity Fair may fit the bill, or possibly Wickham in Austen's Pride and Prejudice? Both are characters who use their personal charms to exploit others. Collins dictionary suggests such a character may be a 'picaroon': a person who lives by his or her wits.
for this one I could do with a name of a famous character from a novel.
From Merriam Webster:
Svengali noun
Sven·ga·li | \ sven-ˈgä-lē , sfen- \
Definition of Svengali: a person who manipulates or exerts excessive control over another
In George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby, a young artist's model named Trilby O'Ferrall falls under the spell of Svengali, a villainous musician and hypnotist. Svengali trains Trilby's voice through hypnosis and transforms her into a singing star, subjugating her completely in the process. Svengali's maleficent powers of persuasion made such an impression on the reading public that by 1919 his name was being used generically as a term for any wickedly manipulative individual.
1972 Maclean's March. 41/2 He had a strange hypnotic power—not that he was a Svengali, but when he spoke people listened.
How about "manipulative"? Someone is manipulative if they manipulate you, fully well knowing your feelings towards them, and then exploiting those feelings for their gain, pecuniary or otherwise.
Sounds like a mild case of narcissistic sociopathy as well, but I'm no psychologist.
cozener noun: (Merriam Webster)
a dishonest person who uses clever means to cheat others out of something of value
cozen verb: (Merriam Webster)
1: to deceive, win over, or induce to do something by artful coaxing and wheedling or shrewd trickery
2: to gain by cozening someone
cozened his supper out of the old couple
I'd strongly suggest that you stick to the word ''exploiter'' but there are other terms used or accepted in several situations suggested below.
The word phony means a person who pretends to be someone else or to have feelings or abilities that he or she does not really have and it would fit your description only because nobody would go through the effort it takes to be phony without the possibility of material gains.
Another word is charlatan, which means a person who falsely pretends to know or be something in order to deceive people or simply put, a phony person. One could say '' My new friend turned out to a charlatan.''
Then there is confidence man used mostly in US which, as the name suggests, is someone who tricks you after he has gained your confidence.
