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:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English terms derived from Low German
- English terms derived from Dutch
- English terms derived from Middle Low German
- English terms derived from Middle Dutch
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 2-syllable words
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