huckster

English

Alternative forms

• huxter (dated)

Etymology

From Middle English hukster, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, from Middle Low German höken (“to peddle”) or Middle Dutch hokester, itself from hoeken (“to peddle”), all from Proto-Germanic *huk-; compare hawkster.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhʌkstɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

huckster (plural hucksters)

1. A peddler or hawker, who sells small items, either door-to-door, from a stall, or in the street.
   • 1731 (date written, published 1745), Jonathan Swift, “Directions to Servants”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XVI, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC:

     drive those china hucksters from the doors

2. Somebody who sells things in an aggressive or showy manner.
   • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:

     Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.

3. One who deceptively sells fraudulent products.
4. Somebody who writes advertisements for radio or television.

Translations

peddler — see peddler

somebody who sells things in an aggressive or showy manner

• Bulgarian: търгаш (bg) m (tǎrgaš)
• Finnish: helppoheikki (fi)
• French: colporteur (fr) m, bonimenteur (fr) m
• German: Hausierer (de) m, Profitmacher m
• Italian: imbonitore (it) m
• Occitan: colejaire m, teriacaire m
• Russian: торга́ш (ru) m (torgáš)

one who deceptively sells fraudulent products

• Finnish: helppoheikki (fi)
• French: bonimenteur (fr) m
• Russian: бары́га (ru) m or f (barýga), торга́ш (ru) m (torgáš)

one who writes advertisements for radio or television

• German: Werbetexter (de) m, Werbefritze m

See also

• costermonger (selling produce)
• pitchman, spruiker
• sutler (selling food and supplies to armies)

Further reading

• Huckster in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Verb

huckster (third-person singular simple present hucksters, present participle huckstering, simple past and past participle huckstered)

1. (intransitive) To haggle, to wrangle, or to bargain.
2. (transitive) To sell or offer (goods) from place to place, to peddle.
3. (transitive) To promote or sell (goods) in an aggressive, showy manner.
   • 1972 November 27, T.E.K., “Kook in a Candy Store”, in Time, volume 100, number 22, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., The Theater, page 73:

     […] Paul Zindel aroused the hope that he might be a playwright in the Williams mode, one who could cast a kindly light in the dark corners of twisted souls. That is precisely the hope dashed by his latest play, The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild. Here he is simply huckstering kookdom for cheap laughs, and not producing many of them at that.

Derived terms

• hucksterism

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Anagrams

• Kutchers