Definition of HUCKSTER

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Noun

Hawkers, peddlers, and hucksters have been selling things out of the back of wagons, in narrow alleys, and on the fringes of towns for years (though nowadays, they're more likely to plug their wares on television or the Internet). Of those three words-"hawker," "peddler," or "huckster"-the one that has been around the longest in English is "huckster." It has been with us for over 800 years, and it derives from the Middle Dutch word hokester, which in turn comes from the verb hoeken, meaning "to peddle." "Peddler" (or "pedlar") was first attested in the 14th century, and this sense of "hawker" has only been appearing in English texts since the early 1500s.

Examples of huckster in a Sentence

Noun

hucksters outside the auditorium selling everything from key chains to life-size cutouts of the rock star

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

There’s no disputing that the fledgling crypto industry is filled with hucksters, con artists, and get-rich-quick scammers. — Robert Hackett, Fortune, "The Ledger: Facebook's Self-Interested Crypto Reversal," 30 June 2018 What can regular users, civic-minded voters with earnest political values, do to keep from getting rolled by the online leviathan or the hucksters swimming around inside of it? — Gregory Krieg, CNN, "Don't want to get rolled on Facebook? Know your own politics.," 10 Apr. 2018 Hopefully the crypto mania will result in a shakeout separating good investors set on improving society from the greedy hucksters masquerading behind that narrative. — Polina Marinova, Fortune, "Term Sheet -- Monday, May 14," 14 May 2018 Apostolina is dryly amusing as a strangely noble huckster who plays fast and loose with the law, while Nagle chills as a pedophilic pedant skilled in the art of self-justification. — F. Kathleen Foley, latimes.com, "In Atwater, a dark secret at the center of 'Forever Bound'," 25 May 2018 And one of the things his presence is going to do is remind everyone of just how hijacked the Lakers have been by Ball, who has never been just a harmless huckster. — Sally Jenkins, chicagotribune.com, "Welcome to L.A., LeBron James. See yourself out, LaVar Ball.," 2 July 2018 Tom Parker, who often has been chastised by Presley aficionados for his carnival huckster-like approach to exploiting all aspects of Presley's career. — Randy Lewis, latimes.com, "'Elvis Presley: The Searcher' HBO doc seeks the artist behind the legend," 13 Apr. 2018 Novelists huckster for clothing chains, jazzmen record for Muzak and Lawrence Welk, poets write advertising copy and folk singers fink out when the chips are down. — Ralph J. Gleason, SFChronicle.com, "Joan Baez, Dylan — a special case, Ralph J. Gleason, 1964," 20 June 2018 The military, in disarray, is easily infiltrated by the huckster Tobias Beckett and his gang, who pass themselves off as a captain and infantry. — Amy Erica Smith, Vox, "Solo reveals the weakness of the Star Wars Galactic Empire," 20 June 2018

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