peddler

noun

ped·​dler ˈped-lər 

variants or less commonly pedlar

: one who peddles: such as

a

: one who offers merchandise (such as fresh produce) for sale along the street or from door to door

b

: one who deals in or promotes something intangible (such as a personal asset or an idea)

influence peddlers

Synonyms

• hawker
• huckster

Example Sentences

the peddler on the street corner selling baseball caps

Recent Examples on the Web

The site, run by prominent anti-vaccine activist and prolific peddler of dangerous misinformation Robert F. Kennedy, had falsely claimed previously that a vaccination dip in 2020 led to a dramatic reduction in deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 17 Aug. 2022

Countless flower peddlers and street vendors selling arrangements take to the streets of Chicago the week before Mother’s Day offering gifts, notjust in Little Village and other predominantly Latino neighborhoods on the Southwest Side, but throughout the North Side and suburbs too. —Laura Rodríguez Presa, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2023

Washington — More than 1,800 pounds of drugs were seized and 288 people arrested in a years-long international law enforcement operation targeting darknet drug peddlers across eight countries, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. —Robert Legare, CBS News, 2 May 2023

The earliest arrivals worked as laborers, factory hands, and peddlers. —Yvonne Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Apr. 2023

Each day, messages from Nigerian princes, peddlers of wonder drugs and promoters of can’t-miss investments choke email inboxes. —John Licato, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2023

Many now identify her more with her wellness-and-lifestyle company Goop, whose offerings have brought her ridicule in some quarters as the quintessential out-of-touch peddler of celebrity woo-woo. —Andrew Dalton And Sam Metz, Chicago Tribune, 31 Mar. 2023

Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit peddler of inaccurate health information founded by vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is among the plaintiffs suing to block the law. —Karen Kaplanscience And Medicine Editor, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2023

On the Fierce City podcast, there is a bawdy history of Nell Gwyn, the child street peddler who ended up the mistress of King Charles II. —Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2020

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Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above