side hustle

noun

variants or less commonly side-hustle

ˈsīd-ˌhə-səl 

plural side hustles also side-hustles

: work performed for income supplementary to one's primary job

These days, lots of people have a side hustle to help them earn extra income, develop new skills, become a business owner and quit their day job.

—Kitsap Sun

The best part of using a blog as a side hustle is the work you put in now will continue to pay off well into the future.

—Emory Wheel (Emory University)

Want to learn a new skill you've had your eyes on for quite some time? Or perhaps you want to take up a new hobby that you can eventually turn into a side hustle?

—Jan Cortes

We all know that millennials love a good side hustle—to fuel both their passions and their wallets.

—Alissa Carpenter

Examples of side hustle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Marcus also has a roommate, Chester (Carmen Christopher), a designer who has a side hustle in real estate. —Whitney Friedlander, Vulture, 27 June 2025

Riri gets a rude awakening in Episode 1 when she’s expelled from MIT for some side hustles academics frown on. —Randy Myers, Mercury News, 27 June 2025

Millions of Americans have turned to side hustles since the pandemic, selling their homemade wares on platforms like Etsy. —Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 22 June 2025

Here’s my best advice for starting a successful side hustle: 1. —Rachel Jimenez, CNBC, 18 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for side hustle

• mofussil
• bustle
• muscle
• mussel
• russel
• rustle
• trussell
• tussle