Word of the Day

: October 13, 2006

huckster

noun HUCK-ster

What It Means

1 : hawker, peddler

2 : one who produces promotional material for commercial clients especially for radio or television

huckster in Context

It was said that Martin was such a clever huckster that he could even sell snow shovels to sunbathers in the summertime.

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.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.