peddler
Americannoun
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peddlers
plural
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a person who sells from door to door or in the street.
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a person who tries to promote some cause, candidate, viewpoint, etc.
noun
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a person who sells illegal drugs, esp narcotics
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the usual US spelling of pedlar
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of peddler
1350–1400; Middle English pedlere, unexplained variant of peder, derivative of ped ( de ) basket
Explanation
A peddler is a specific type of salesperson: someone who travels from town to town selling their wares. A peddler is someone who sells things, but it's a very specific type of selling. Peddlers — also known as hawkers and pitchmen — travel from town to town, especially with a carnival or circus. Peddlers are also found on the street, selling many different things, from jewelry to DVDs. There's a shady implication to this word, since peddlers have included people selling snake oil and other worthless products. Instead of buying from a peddler, you're probably better off at a store.
Vocabulary lists containing peddler
"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
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The Breadwinner
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A Long Way from Chicago
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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:
“He is an American manifestation, the peddler at our door,” he says.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2026
So when a peddler arrives with a rare item and information, the overseer’s interest is piqued.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Moreover, skeptics of Scobie's work have accused him of being a peddler for the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2023
The audience is too fragmented, spread too thin across a fractured media landscape for any catchphrase, any peddler, however inventive, to reach this scale of recognition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
He paid a peddler for a ride and was on a ship bound for Delaware the next day.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Soon the peddlers men gave up on coal and the bistro was born—created not by Parisians, but by Aveyronnais immigrants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
These are all committed peddlers of nonsense, but none has committed quite so fully, with so little regard for his or her personal reputation, as Lindell.
From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2025
“Apple Cider Vinegar” hammers across – subconsciously, granted — the notion of shared culpability between the medical profession and snake oil wellness peddlers.
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2025
To put it another way, disinformation peddlers need only make a claim that sounds plausible or might even have a small kernel of truth to influence the unwary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2024
Around them peddlers were selling dog sausages, roast onions, and unborn puppies on a stick, but Dany had no need of such.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
