hustler
Americannoun
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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.
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.
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
"She's a bit of a hustler," adds Greenway.
From BBC • May 20, 2025
So now I'm a writer and a hustler: coach, software entrepreneur, ghostwriter, teacher, juggler — my decision.
From Salon • Oct. 14, 2024
In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there—I had commanded attention when I said something.
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.
