foist off

English

Verb

foist off (third-person singular simple present foists off, present participle foisting off, simple past and past participle foisted off)

1. (transitive) To fraudulently or disingenuously pass (goods, or ideas) on to.
   • 2013, Nagaru Tanigawa, The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya:

     She was talking big, but the Haruhi of last year would've forced people to attend an explanatory lecture about the brigade, printed huge numbers of flyers, and foisted them off on absolutely everybody.

   • 2018, Edmund White, The Unpunished Vice: A Life of Reading:

     I used to think New Yorkers invented trends and foisted them off on a gullible nation but weren't themselves […]

2. To get rid of (something unwanted) by giving it to someone else.
   • 2014, Mary Ostyn, Forever Mom: What to Expect When You're Adopting, page 92:

     When Zeytuna didn't want to do her chores, she foisted them off on Lidya, who'd spent years being her caregiver and took over without a whisper of complaint.

   • 2017, Broadus Mitchell, The Depression Decade, page 182:

     Countries with export surpluses foisted them off by bounties or placed them through unilateral agreements.

See also

• fob off