shyster

[ shahy-ster ]

noun

, Informal.

1. a lawyer who uses unprofessional or questionable methods.
2. a person who gets along by petty, sharp practices.

shyster

/ ˈʃaɪstə /

noun

1. informal.
   a person, esp a lawyer or politician, who uses discreditable or unethical methods

Other Words From

• shyster·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of shyster¹

1835–45, Americanism; probably < German Scheisser, equivalent to scheiss ( en ) to shit + -er -er ¹; final -ser conformed to -ster

Word History and Origins

Origin of shyster¹

C19: probably based on Scheuster , name of a disreputable 19th-century New York lawyer

Example Sentences

On her application for asylum she listened to shyster legal counsel.

From The Daily Beast

One of the latest biographies of Lincoln credits him with many of the artifices of the "shyster."

From Project Gutenberg

With all that he was approaching forty a shyster lawyer, living on the blackmail he shared with the police.

From Project Gutenberg

He was in no humor to be bluffed by a pompous shyster lawyer.

From Project Gutenberg

At each stage we spoke dutifully of the scene and its associations; I sketched, the Shyster spouted poetry and copied epitaphs.

From Project Gutenberg

Two trifles, indeed, completed though they scarcely changed my conception of the Shyster.

From Project Gutenberg