cheap-jack

[ cheep-jak ]

noun

1. a peddler, especially of inferior articles.

adjective

1. of or suitable for a cheap-jack; cheap or inferior.
2. without scruples or principles; underhanded:

   using cheap-jack methods to evict tenants.

cheap-jack

noun

1. a person who sells cheap and shoddy goods

adjective

1. shoddy or inferior

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheap-jack¹

First recorded in 1850–55

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheap-jack¹

C19: from cheap + Jack (name used to typify a person)

Example Sentences

Soon the voice of the cheap-Jack was heard mingling with the others on shore.

From Project Gutenberg

As for the cheap-Jack fellows, let our master make 'em pay toll.

From Project Gutenberg

He talked away like a Cheap Jack, and made such fun, people nearly died with laughing.

From Project Gutenberg

Somehow this cheap-Jack way of getting out of doing any work by spending a little money, got my goat something fierce.

From Project Gutenberg

The law, wrote M. Jusserand, distinguished very clearly between an educated physician and a cheap-jack of the cross-ways.

From Project Gutenberg