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cheap-jack

[cheep-jak]
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noun
  1. a peddler, especially of inferior articles.
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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.
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Also cheap·jack, cheap-john [cheep-jon] /ˈtʃipˌdʒɒn/.

Origin of cheap-jack

First recorded in 1850–55
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cheapjack

Historical Examples

  • If Llanyglo's cheapjack in one way, perhaps it isn't in another.

    Mushroom Town

    Oliver Onions

  • The rewards of the literary world—that is, the tangible, potable, spendable rewards—go mostly to the cheapjack and the mountebank.

    Pipefuls

    Christopher Morley

British Dictionary definitions for cheapjack

cheap-jack

noun
  1. a person who sells cheap and shoddy goods
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adjective
  1. shoddy or inferior
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Word Origin

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