huckster

play

noun huck·ster \ˈhək-stər\

Definition of huckster

1 : hawker, peddler; especially : one who sells or advertises something in an aggressive, dishonest, or annoying way
2 : one who produces promotional material for commercial clients especially for radio or television

hucksterism

play \ˈhək-stə-ˌri-zəm\ noun

See huckster defined for English-language learners

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Examples of huckster in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of huckster from the Web

Was Johnny Depp an innocent fleeced at the hands of Hollywood hucksters or a scheming artful dodger attempting to sue his way out of his wastrel lifestyle and outrageous spending and any remaining debt to his former business managers?

— mark seal, Vanities, "How Did Johnny Depp Find Himself in a Financial Crisis?," 11 July 2017
There are classics from the past that give us the Trump phenomenon in embryo, foreshadowings of American authoritarianism with a huckster’s grin:

— james wolcott, VanityFair.com, "Trump: The Movie, Coming Soon to a Theater Near You (if Theaters Still Exist)," 19 June 2017
At the greatest moment of Kevin Durant's basketball career, Nike took a timeout from the celebration to respond to television hucksters.

— dan steinberg, chicagotribune.com, "Kevin Durant's 'Debate This' Nike ad was the wrong message at the wrong time," 13 June 2017
A reality-TV huckster has the power to further place us all in peril because white people needed to feel good about being white.

— michael arceneaux, The Root, "Y’all’s President Just Put Captain Planet on Suicide Watch and Further Endangered the Entire World," 2 June 2017
His rude personal style ruffles the feathers of many who see him as a pretender or a huckster.

— john kass, chicagotribune.com, "Will flaying Trump bring us to normalcy?," 30 May 2017
So, when Fuel City broke ground on its fourth store in Saginaw about two weeks ago, people wondered what sort of surprise John Benda, its owner and chief huckster, had in store for them.

— max b. baker, star-telegram.com, "New Fuel City to offer tacos and Pizza!Pizza!," 26 May 2017
Mayors running for president don’t often happen, but who expected a reality TV huckster?

— henry goldman, Bloomberg.com, "De Blasio Promotes National Role While Seeking Re-Election," 22 May 2017
A reality-TV huckster who is using his position as president to enrich himself and his family.

— michael arceneaux, The Root, "Why Are People Worried About Obama’s Speaking Fees When Sunkist Stalin Is the Real Scammer?," 6 May 2017

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.

Did You Know?

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.