deceiver vs smooth operator

deceiver

noun
  • A person who lies or deceives. 

  • Another name for Satan. 

smooth operator

noun
  • A skillful, manipulative person, con artist, or clever scoundrel. 

  • A person who accomplishes tasks with efficiency and grace, especially one with verbal skills who is persuasive in interpersonal relationships, negotiation, etc. 

How often have the words deceiver and smooth operator occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )