hustler
Americannoun
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hustlers
plural
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an enterprising person determined to succeed; go-getter.
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Slang. a person who employs fraudulent or unscrupulous methods to obtain money; swindler.
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Informal. an expert gambler or game player who seeks out challengers, especially unsuspecting amateur ones, in order to win money from them.
He earned his living as a pool hustler.
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Slang. a prostitute.
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a person who hustles.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hustler
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:
"She didn't come off as a hustler," notes one former classmate.
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2025
Stan Carlisle, a small-time hustler and the protagonist of the noirish tale “Nightmare Alley,” starts out as a card sharp, performing sleight-of-hand tricks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
But the liveliest and most revealing parts of “The Colonel and the King” actually come before the Colonel meets the King, as Guralnick paints a picture of a tireless hustler desperate to reinvent himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2025
“We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another crappy real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot,” he said.
From Salon ● May 29, 2024
She probably thought I was a hustler, pulling out that cash knot like that.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
But the pair are just the latest in the long line of hustlers, fraudsters and canny opportunists who have been working to undermine science in this country for more than a century.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
Kwiyup typifies a new class of self-styled entrepreneurs who might traditionally be called freelancers and side hustlers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
But the opportunity to profit from advertising revenue and sponsorship money has also attracted side hustlers just like Jordan, who hope to generate income outside their full-time jobs.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2025
If billiards has the reputation of being a pastime for gamblers, hustlers and hanger-oners, the female-centric biweekly pool tournament at 4100 Bar offers a friendly, supportive alternative.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2024
The story of that poker game helped my on-scene reputation among the other gamblers and hustlers around Roxbury.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
