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
Iris is visibly insecure about Isaac’s conversations with other women, including the strawberry peddler who coos that he has “soft hands,” and his mother, who dials him up to crack inside jokes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025
Dr Yang, who previously worked for China's Ministry of State Security, was nicknamed the "democracy peddler", but his writings often avoided direct criticisms of the government.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2024
She misses standing on the balcony and lowering the basket down with a rope for the peddler to fill with pineapples and coconuts.
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
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
Each new conflict, or election season, provides new opportunities for disinformation peddlers to demonstrate the latest AI advances.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 28, 2023
In their new guises — as a podcast host in Kelly's case, and whatever Carlson's fiddling with on X – they're doubt peddlers with a mainstream pedigree and the appearance of being politically connected.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2023
There were also peddlers of sweets who took advantage of the lines to hawk their goods, and people who rented blankets for the long nighttime lines.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
