quacksalver

[ kwak-sal-ver ]
See synonyms for quacksalver on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a quack doctor.

  2. a charlatan.

Origin of quacksalver

1
1570–80; <early Dutch (now kwakzalver); see quack1, salve1, -er1

Words Nearby quacksalver

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How to use quacksalver in a sentence

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

  • 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?

British Dictionary definitions for quacksalver

quacksalver

/ (ˈkwækˌsælvə) /


noun
  1. an archaic word for quack 2

Origin of quacksalver

1
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