Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US Und., also hipe) a short-change swindle in which the criminal persuades a shopkeeper that he has paid with a larger denomination note than he actually has, thus gaining extra change.

1933		Ersine Und. and Prison Sl. 23: bundle hype. A short-change method in which several folded bills are used; the victim is made confused and conned into giving the short-change artist an extra five-dollar bill when a ten-dollar bill is broken.
1937		(con. 1905–25) E.H. Sutherland Professional Thief (1956) 74: The hype is a method of short-changing cashiers.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 95/2: Hipe, n. 1. The short-change racket, especially involving coins, as distinguished from laying the note, involving currency. [A common form of the hipe is that in which a swindler counts the correct change into his own hand in plain view of the victim, then pushes it hurriedly into the victim’s hand insuch a way as to impel him to pocket it before counting the coins. A coin has been deftly palmed and exchanged for another of lesser value.] 2. Any confidence racket or swindle involving dexterity, cleverness, fast talk, and a small sum of money. 3. The act of raising gambling stakes in swindling a victim who has been inveigled by being permitted to win a few bets.
1953		‘William Lee’ Junkie (1966) 157: The Hype, The Bill . . . A short-change racket.

2. (US) a swindle, a confidence trick, fraud, lies or exaggeration.

1942		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam Star-News 8 Aug. 14: ‘I’ve got a book full of hypes. I write ’em. [...] Don’t try to lay this [trick] on me’.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 132: I guess that little hype we had is all blown over.
1967		C. Cooper Jr Farm (1968) 124: That AA shit’s all a hype to get to the broads; I know: I got a broad there.
1970		A. Young Snakes (1971) 118: Now you wouldnt try to lay a hype on an old hepcat like me, would you?
1979		D. Gram Foxes (1980) 52: That guy, the cop, ain’t my dad. No hype, he just isn’t.
1988		(con. 1930s) C.E. Lincoln The Avenue, Clayton City (1996) 61: [...] thinking about the hype he aimed to put on Coley for half-a-man.
2021		P. Papathanasiou Stoning 286: ‘Onions reckons the incidents are cooked up [...] they’re all just hype’.

3. (US Und.) a confidence trickster; a ‘short-change artist’.

1926		Clues Nov. 161/2: Hype, short change artist.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks n.p.: Hype a short change artist. A person who does not give the correct amount of change to a customer.
1971–2		C. Shafer ‘Catheads [...] and Cho-Cho Sticks’ in Abernethy Bounty of Texas (1990) 207: hype, n. – a con-man (1950s).

4. (US) an exorbitant increase in prices.

1926

Maines & Grant Wise-crack Dict. 9: That place has a hype on this week.

5. (US black) a story, a ‘line’ used for seduction.

1943		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam Star-News 22 May 11: Latch onto this hype I’m dropping about the spiel that was laid about the Seven Skulls.
1943		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 3 July 16: Non-recruited zoot suiters who put down romance hypes in the Gryndeaux role.

6. any contrived situation or scheme designed to fleece a victim.

1944		Cab Calloway New Hepsters Dict. in Calloway (1976) 256: hype (n., v.): build up for a loan, wooing a girl, persuasive talk.
1959		C. Himes Crazy Kill 97: Oh, you mean did he have a hype? Val didn’t do nothing like that.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 168: Brew and I looked at each other, wondering if this could be a hype, like him takin’ the bread an’ not coming through.
1980		(con. 1940s–60s) H. Huncke ‘The Law of Retribution’ in Eve. Sun Turned Crimson (1998) 175: Unexpectedly I discovered [...] the various hypes I’d been subjected to.

7. publicity, promotion, esp. wild statements guessing about something’s nature (whether positive or negative).

1948		Dan Burley ‘Back Door Stuff’ 30 Oct. [synd. col.] [T]he first thing I’m gonna do is to put down some hypes for the boys who need ’em.
1958		J.C. Holmes Horn 40: But he ain’t good enough any more to justify this kind of hype.
1969		N. Cohn Awopbop. (1970) 53: The fifties were the golden age of hype.
1970		Time 2 Feb. 3: Detached from hype and trend, almost entirely dependent upon their fine heads and solid musicianship, there are a few groups and a few individual performers in the new music who endure.
1981		H. Gould Fort Apache, The Bronx 255: People believe what you tell them [...] It’s just a question of how good your hype is, that’s all.
1998		Source Nov. 142: That’s where the real hype is.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 106: Mantra was a no-rush, no-hype label.
1999		R.G. Barrett Wind & Monkey (2013) [ebook] Yet for all the hype and strained facial expressions, he had a sensational voice and the band were great.
2000		Wash. Post 23 Jan. X10: When does jargon end and a new vernacular begin? Where’s the line between neologism and hype?
2004		(con. 1960s-70s) T. Taylor Top Fellas 43/2: The media piled on the hype and hooey.
2015		N. Cummins Tales of the Honey Badger [ebook] I never had the hype of a young hotshot nor was I some widely-acclaimed prodigy.

8. (UK black) an emotional outburst.

2020

G. Krauze What They Was 59: Taz is on a mad hype, going [...] every fucking time they see man they wanna harrass man .