huckster
English
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huckster
- /ˈhʌkstɚ/ US
Where it comes from
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.
noun hucksters · huxter
- A peddler or hawker, who sells small items, either door-to-door, from a stall, or in the street. drive those china hucksters from the doors
- Somebody who sells things in an aggressive or showy manner. 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
- One who deceptively sells fraudulent products; snake oil salesman.
- Somebody who writes advertisements for radio or television.
verb hucksters · huckstering · huckstered · huxter
- To haggle, to wrangle, or to bargain.
- To sell or offer (goods) from place to place, to peddle.
- To promote or sell (goods) in an aggressive, showy manner. […] 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 laugh
Translations
Every language
noun somebody who sells things in an aggressive or showy manner
| Français | colporteur, bonimenteur |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Hausierer, Profitmacher |
| Italiano | imbonitore |
| Русский | торга́ш torgáš |
noun one who deceptively sells fraudulent products
| Français | bonimenteur |
|---|---|
| Русский | бары́га barýga, торга́ш torgáš |
noun one who writes advertisements for radio or television
| Deutsch | Werbetexter, Werbefritze |
|---|
Talk about this word "huckster." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/huckster. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. huckster. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/huckster "huckster." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/huckster.Cite this
@misc{huckster_2026,
title = {huckster},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/huckster},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
