cheap-jack

[ cheep-jak ]

/ ˈtʃipˌdʒæk /

Save This Word!

noun

a peddler, especially of inferior articles.

adjective

of or suitable for a cheap-jack; cheap or inferior.

without scruples or principles; underhanded: using cheap-jack methods to evict tenants.

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also cheapjack, cheap-john

[cheep-jon]. /ˈtʃipˌdʒɒn/.

Origin of cheap-jack

First recorded in 1850–55

Words nearby cheap-jack

Ch.E., cheap, cheap at twice the price, cheapen, cheapie, cheap-jack, cheapo, cheap out, cheap shot, Cheapside, cheapskate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cheap-jack in a sentence

In doing so he exposed the failure of other airlines in the region to see the huge pent-up demand for cheap travel.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Betrayal…you can hear it…betraying the thing he loves for a cheap bit of film publicity.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Starting in the 1970s, then MPAA president Jack Valenti began what was to become a decades-long fight against the quota system.
Propaganda, Protest, and Poisonous Vipers: The Cinema War in Korea|Rich Goldstein|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Riffing off the slogan “Now Everyone Can Fly,” the carrier offered no-frills flights that were both cheap and plentiful.
The Presumed Crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Is Nothing Like MH370|Lennox Samuels|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Heinold's First and Last Chance, Oakland (Jack London, Taft) You can thank Johnny Heinold for your favorite Jack London book.
The Bars That Made America Great|Nina Strochlic|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cheap as they are, they are a poorer speculation than even corner lots in a lithographic city of Nebraska or Oregon.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
Strathland would bundle me out in ten minutes if anything happened to Jack.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
She is immensely rich, one of the ablest political women in London, and Jack is desperately in love with her.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
How on earth can Jack find time to think about women with the immense amount of work he gets through?
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
In 1205 wheat was worth 12 pence per bushel, which was cheap, as there had been some years of famine previous thereto.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell

British Dictionary definitions for cheap-jack

cheap-jack

/ informal /

noun

a person who sells cheap and shoddy goods

adjective

shoddy or inferior

Word Origin for cheap-jack

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012