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cheap-jack

American  
[cheep-jak] / ˈtʃipˌdʒæk /
Also cheapjack,

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 British  

noun

  1. a person who sells cheap and shoddy goods

"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

adjective

  1. shoddy or inferior

"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

Etymology

Origin of cheap-jack

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Then again, it might be another cheap-jack moment waiting to take you down.

From New York Times Sep. 8, 2012

He saw a whole street of Florence, including the quarters of Donatello and Bronzino, torn down to make room for a cheap-jack row of shops devoted to "bijouterie and parfumerie."

From Time Magazine Archive

It was reported that he had followed up his former misconduct by calling his father-in-law a liar, and that he had ordered a common tombstone from some cheap-jack at the East-end.

From An Unsocial Socialist by Shaw, Bernard

"Tout aux tavernes et aux fiells" Suppose you screeve? or go cheap-jack?

From The Book of Humorous Verse by Wells, Carolyn

Then that jolly old Sir Walter Cholmondeliegh got introduced to us, and this fellow, with his cheap-jack wit, began to score off the old man in the way he does now.

From The Club of Queer Trades by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)

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