peddler

[ ped-ler ]

noun

1. a person who sells from door to door or in the street.
2. a person who tries to promote some cause, candidate, viewpoint, etc.

peddler

/ ˈpɛdlə /

noun

1. a person who sells illegal drugs, esp narcotics
2. See pedlar
   the usual US spelling of pedlar

Word History and Origins

Origin of peddler¹

1350–1400; Middle English pedlere, unexplained variant of peder, derivative of ped ( de ) basket

Example Sentences

Some sites, like the Denver Guardian or the National Vaccine Information Center, rely on legitimate-sounding names to convey authority despite being known peddlers of disinformation and false news, he explained.

From Popular-Science

Often, peddlers of false info rely on a small nugget of truth to help support their claims.

From Popular-Science

Online peddlers of misinformation often exploit a data void, telling people to search for specific terms that they know will lead to results that promote what they’re trying to say.

From MIT Technology Review

At the start of the game, we find him selling watches out of his coat pockets to various pedestrians on the street like a peddler of illicit goods.

From Washington Post

This is also what disinformation peddlers seek to capture when they create salacious content to share on social media.

From Time

Legal rum from Cuba seems to be one possibility, though the idea of becoming a legitimate liquor peddler hardly brings any heat.

From The Daily Beast

Mandelbaum began her climb to the top of the crime world as a peddler on the rough-and-tumble, bustling streets of New York City.

From The Daily Beast

Supporters of conspiracy peddler Alex Jones are FURIOUS that I dared to note his dismissal of the Apollo 11 mission.

From The Daily Beast

But still: the move from governor to green-peddler is significant.

From The Daily Beast

According to tradition, the typical Yankee peddler was thought to be so shrewd that he could carve and sell counterfeit nutmegs.

From The Daily Beast

Fifty pistols lighted the scene, and the bullets whistled in every direction around the head of the devoted peddler.

From Project Gutenberg

Katy, turning her face, saw the peddler himself standing within the door of the room.

From Project Gutenberg

Disregarding all but the fact that his father still lived, the peddler stole gently into the room of his dying parent.

From Project Gutenberg

A noise in the adjoining room interrupted the dying man, and the impatient peddler hastened to learn the cause.

From Project Gutenberg

The door was opened and the Skinners entered, dragging the peddler, bending beneath the load of his pack.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• vendor