con
n. countablen. a trick used to cheat someone out of their money. It is also a reason against doing something, like when you look at the pros and cons of a choice.
n. a swindle or confidence trick designed to defraud a victim; also used to refer to a disadvantage or negative factor in a decision-making process. Informal in its sense of fraud; standard in its sense of a disadvantage.
The cheap vacation offer turned out to be a con.
Before signing the lease, we sat down to list every pro and con of moving to the city center.
The elaborate con involved several actors and a fake office, convincing the investors that they were participating in a legitimate real estate development project.
Commonly used in the plural phrase 'pros and cons' to weigh options.
the cons of the plan are manythe disadvantages of the plan are manyWhile 'pros and cons' is a standard phrase, using 'cons' alone as a synonym for 'disadvantages' can sound overly informal in academic or professional writing.