hustler

noun

hus·​tler ˈhə-slər 

plural hustlers

: a person who hustles: such as

a

: one who obtains money by fraud or deceit : scammer, swindler

A financial hustler who orchestrated the theft of $6.5 million from investors …

—Shayna Jacobs and Alec Tabak

… most of the eight major frauds Minkow helped uncover in the past year have involved hustlers trying to sell investments to church groups.

—Adam Zagorin

b

: one who lures less skillful players into competing at a gambling game

a pool hustler

This is where the chess hustlers have seized their opportunity. Camped out at the picnic tables in Harvard Square, these seasoned locals will play with you—for a price.

—Evan Zigmond

c

: an athlete who plays with alert energy and aggressiveness

a hustler on the soccer field

By always being the teacher's pet, by being a hustler in football practice and by being the fringe member of many social groups but the leader of none, Kelly managed to mask his insecurities.

—Michael Reese

d

: sex worker

a male hustler

"Beat" is old carny slang. According to Beat Movement legend … , Ginsberg and Kerouac picked it up from a character named Herbert Huncke, a gay street hustler and drug addict from Chicago who began hanging around Times Square in 1939 …

—Louis Menand

Synonyms of hustler

• prostitute
• hooker

Examples of hustler in a Sentence

policemen kept the street clean of hustlers

the ad for the sales job claims that for someone who's a real hustler, the sky's the limit

Recent Examples on the Web

That brings the domestic total for the A24 drama about a ping pong hustler (Timothée Chalamet) to roughly $39 million. —Brent Lang, Variety, 1 Jan. 2026

Rourke gained acclaim for his role as a fast-talking hustler in Barry Levinson’s coming-of-age comedy Diner. —Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 30 Dec. 2025

Perd interviewed just about everyone on the Parks core cast across his six-season run on the show, from Amy Poehler's type-A bureaucrat Leslie Knope to Aziz Ansari's slick hustler Tom Haverford. —Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Dec. 2025

Starring Timothée Chalamet in the titular role, Marty Supreme follows Marty Mauser, a working-class hustler in 1950s New York who navigates the underground table tennis scene to make money. —Katie Mannion, PEOPLE, 26 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1789, in the meaning defined above