peddler

noun

ped·​dler ˈped-lər 

variants or less commonly pedlar

plural peddlers also pedlars

: someone who peddles: such as

a

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

b

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

influence peddlers

commonly confused with pedaler

Synonyms

• vendor
• hawker
• merchant
• seller
• huckster
• dealer
• trader

Examples of peddler in a Sentence

the peddler on the street corner selling baseball caps

Recent Examples on the Web

Listeners can hear peddlers calling out their wares, children singing in courtyards, band music echoing on side streets and immigrant voices drifting through Midtown Manhattan. —Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 June 2025

The City Council voted 7-0 June 10 to approve an ordinance to reduce the latest time in which peddlers and solicitors can knock on doors, ring doorbells or otherwise try to get admittance at residences from 9 p.m. Gayatri Agnew, Ward 1 City Council member, abstained from voting. —Thomas Saccente, Arkansas Online, 20 June 2025

Then came the presidential elections of 2016 and 2020, and the pandemic; suddenly cable networks long deemed trustworthy were peddlers of fake news, on the right and the left. —Ulysses Ortega, New York Times, 3 May 2025

But news of the child's death first came to light on Saturday, April 5—in a newsletter published by Robert Malone, an anti-vaccine advocate and peddler of conspiracy theories who came to prominence during the pandemic. —ArsTechnica, 7 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for peddler

• pedlar