foist

verb \ ˈfȯist \

Updated on: 4 Apr 2018

Definition of foist

transitive verb

1 a : to introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant

b : to force another to accept especially by stealth or deceit

when the states … foist unnecessary expenses on local taxpayers
—T. C. Desmond

2 : to pass off as genuine or worthy

foist costly and valueless products on the public
—Jonathan Spivak

… inferior caviar has been foisted on an unknowing public …
—David Rosengarten

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Examples of foist in a Sentence

shopkeepers who foist shoddy souvenirs on unsuspecting tourists

Recent Examples of foist from the Web

Hope is Trump's 29-year-old communications director, foisted into the high-profile role after Sean Spcier, Michael Dubke and Anthony Scaramucci all held and lost the title within Trump's first year.

— josh hafner, USA TODAY, "OnPolitics Today: 'I like taking guns away early,' Trump says, pushing back on due process," 28 Feb. 2018
The Super Bowl halftime, these days, is the ultimate stadium rock gig; alas, the NFL spent that golden era of denim foisting smooth jazz and standards on the masses.

— mark bechtel, SI.com, "OUT: Carol Channing. IN: Led Zeppelin ... We Recast Every Super Bowl Halftime Show," 31 Jan. 2018
Abandoning Abood after four decades would be a radical move for a handful of judges to foist on America, Justice Elena Kagan added.

— The Economist, "The future of public-sector unions hinges on the vote of Neil Gorsuch," 1 Mar. 2018
Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Angela Bassett, and Letitia Wright are the powerful women who lead Coogler’s charge to challenge Eurocentric notions of beauty foisted on us by Hollywood and the media.

— rebecca theodore-vachon, EW.com, "The blackness of Black Panther: An Appreciation," 27 Feb. 2018
Meanwhile a bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation that would block lenders from foisting rotten refi deals on VA borrowers.

— kenneth r. harney, miamiherald, "Lenders who prey on veterans hurt other home buyers as well | Miami Herald," 12 Feb. 2018
To fully appreciate the zany nature of this Alabama team requires a willingness to embrace the kind of surprises and cliffhangers the Crimson Tide foists upon its fans.

— rainer sabin, AL.com, "Second-half surge helps Alabama defeat No. 23 Florida," 3 Feb. 2018
As European governments bailed out national banks, foisting the costs on taxpayers, investors demanded higher interest rates to continue lending, raising existential questions about the euro.

— peter s. goodman, New York Times, "Every One of the World’s Big Economies Is Now Growing," 27 Jan. 2018
But aside from Clinton, most of the chaos was foisted upon those presidents, not fostered by them, Perry said.

— jonathan tamari, Philly.com, "The surest thing in Washington about Trump Year One: exhaustion," 19 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'foist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

An early sense of the word foist, now obsolete, referred to palming a phony die and secretly introducing it into a game at an opportune time. The action involved in this cheating tactic reflects the etymology of foist. The word is believed to derive from the obsolete Dutch verb vuisten, meaning "to take into one's hand." "Vuisten" in turn comes from "vuyst," the Middle Dutch word for "fist" which itself is distantly related to the Old English ancestor of "fist." By the late 16th century "foist" was being used in English to mean "to insert surreptitiously," and it quickly acquired the meaning "to force another to accept by stealth or deceit."