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, bend, bear on the back”), all from Proto-Germanic *huk-, probably related to *hūkan- (“to squat”), from *hūkkan-, back-formed from the iterative *huk(k)ōn-, from Proto-Indo-European *kuk-néh₂, from *kewk- (“to curve, bend”) (also the source of English high). Compare hawkster. By surface analysis, huck +‎ -ster. === Pronunciation === (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhʌkstɚ/ === Noun === huckster (plural hucksters) A peddler or hawker, who sells small items, either door-to-door, from a stall, or in the street. Somebody who sells things in an aggressive or showy manner. One who deceptively sells fraudulent products; snake oil salesman. Somebody who writes advertisements for radio or television. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== 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) (intransitive) To haggle, to wrangle, or to bargain. (transitive) To sell or offer (goods) from place to place, to peddle. (transitive) To promote or sell (goods) in an aggressive, showy manner. ==== Derived terms ==== hucksterism === References === “huckster” in Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary: Based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 7th edition, Springfield, Mass.: G[eorge] & C[harles] Merriam, 1963 (1967 printing), →OCLC. === Anagrams === Kutchers