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quacksalver

[ kwak-sal-ver ]
/ ˈkwækˌsæl vər /
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See synonyms for quacksalver on Thesaurus.com
noun
a quack doctor.
a charlatan.
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Origin of quacksalver

1570–80; <early Dutch (now kwakzalver); see quack1, salve1, -er1

Words nearby quacksalver

qua, Quaalude, quack, quackery, quack grass, quacksalver, Quaco, quad, quad-band, quad bike, Quad Cities
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to quacksalver

actor, bum, charlatan, cheat, counterfeit, counterfeiter, fake, four-flusher, fraud, humbug, impostor, mountebank, phony, playactor, pretender, pseudo, put on, sham, shammer, shark

How to use quacksalver in a sentence

  • Francis Quicksilver, would God thou hadst turned quacksalver, rather than run into these dissolute and lewd courses!

    The Works of John Marston|John Marston

  • I have done ill to unbosom myself so far to this poisonous quacksalver.

    The Fair Maid of Perth|Sir Walter Scott

  • Am I not yclept quacksalver by those that come not near me, and wizard by those I heal?

    The Cloister and the Hearth|Charles Reade

British Dictionary definitions for quacksalver

quacksalver
/ (ˈkwækˌsælvə) /
noun
an archaic word for quack 2

Word Origin for quacksalver

C16: from Dutch, from quack, apparently: to hawk + salf salve 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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