huckster

[ huhk-ster ]
See synonyms for: hucksterhucksteredhuckstering on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a retailer of small articles, especially a peddler of fruits and vegetables; hawker.

  2. a person who employs showy methods to effect a sale, win votes, etc.: the crass methods of political hucksters.

  1. a cheaply mercenary person.

  2. Informal.

    • a persuasive and aggressive salesperson.

    • a person who works in the advertising industry, especially one who prepares aggressive advertising for radio and television.

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to deal, as in small articles, or to make petty bargains: to huckster fresh corn; to huckster for a living.

  2. to sell or promote in an aggressive and flashy manner.

Origin of huckster

1
1150–1200; Middle English huccstere (perhaps cognate with Middle Dutch hokester), equivalent to hucc-haggle (cognate with dialectal German hucken to huckster) + -stere-ster

Other words from huckster

  • huck·ster·ism, noun
  • huck·ster·ish, adjective

Words Nearby huckster

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use huckster in a sentence

  • But has the huckster waited too long to get in the game this time?

  • But my humiliation goes even deeper, for I must parade my poor wares before you like any huckster, beseeching you to buy.

    The Doomsman | Van Tassel Sutphen
  • No one save Jacques the huckster lives there, why should he excite any attention?

    Winged Wheels in France | Michael Myers Shoemaker
  • Everything was still on the streets except the clatter of the milk carts, and the early drays and huckster wagons.

    The Fatal Glove | Clara Augusta Jones Trask
  • Miss Grey, a small huckster who kept a little vegetable shop, was one day showing off her rings and bracelets to our servant.

  • A few huckster men were beginning to go round, but Hudson Market was the place to buy fresh vegetables that came in every morning.

    A Little Girl in Old New York | Amanda Millie Douglas

British Dictionary definitions for huckster

huckster

/ (ˈhʌkstə) /


noun
  1. a person who uses aggressive or questionable methods of selling

  2. rare a person who sells small articles or fruit in the street

  1. US a person who writes for radio or television advertisements

verb
  1. (tr) to peddle

  2. (tr) to sell or advertise aggressively or questionably

  1. to haggle (over)

Origin of huckster

1
C12: perhaps from Middle Dutch hoekster, from hoeken to carry on the back

Derived forms of huckster

  • hucksterism, noun

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