huckster
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English hukster, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, from Middle Low German höken (“to peddle”) or Middle Dutch hokester, itself from hoeken (“to peddle”), all from Proto-Germanic *huk-; compare hawkster.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhʌkstɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun[edit]
huckster (plural hucksters)
- A peddler or hawker, who sells small items, either door-to-door, from a stall, or in the street.
- 1731 (date written, published 1745), Jonathan Swift, “Directions to Servants”, in Thomas Sheridan and John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XVI, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC:
- drive those china hucksters from the doors
- Somebody who sells things in an aggressive or showy manner.
- 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
- Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.
- One who deceptively sells fraudulent products.
- Somebody who writes advertisements for radio or television.
Translations[edit]
peddler — see peddler
somebody who sells things in an aggressive or showy manner
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one who deceptively sells fraudulent products
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one who writes advertisements for radio or television
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See also[edit]
- costermonger (selling produce)
- pitchman, spruiker
- sutler (selling food and supplies to armies)
Further reading[edit]
Verb[edit]
huckster (third-person singular simple present hucksters, present participle huckstering, simple past and past participle huckstered)
- (intransitive) To haggle, to wrangle, or to bargain.
- (transitive) To sell or offer goods from place to place, to peddle.
- (transitive) To promote or sell goods in an aggressive, showy manner.
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
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