27 October 2016
huckster
[huhk-ster]
Spell Syllables
noun
1. a retailer of small articles, especially a peddler of fruits and vegetables; hawker.
2. a person who employs showy methods to effect a sale, win votes, etc.:
the crass methods of political hucksters.
3. a cheaply mercenary person.
4. Informal. A persuasive and aggressive salesperson. A person who works in the advertising industry, especially one who prepares aggressive advertising for radio and television.
verb (used with or without object)
5. to deal, as in small articles, or to make petty bargains:
to huckster fresh corn; to huckster for a living.
6. to sell or promote in an aggressive and flashy manner.
Origin of huckster
Middle English
1150-1200; Middle English huccstere (perhaps cognate with Middle Dutch hokester), equivalent to hucc- haggle (cognate with dialectal German hucken to huckster) + -stere -ster
Related forms
hucksterism, noun
hucksterish, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for huckster
Contemporary Examples
But has the huckster waited too long to get in the game this time?
Will Mike Huckabee Take the Presidential Plunge?
John Avlon
April 20, 2011
Also genuine, however, is the huckster aspect of the Ron Paul persona.
Ron Paul: Still a Bunco Artist
David Frum
January 10, 2012
Historical Examples
I was reduced to tell the Kelt to ask the huckster of whom he bought.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 83, September, 1864
Various
Anagram
heck rust
he struck
Today’s quote
If you watch close, history does nothing but repeat itself. What we call chaos is just patterns we haven’t recognised.
– Chuck Palahniuk
On this day
27 October 1728 – birth of Captain James Cook, British explorer. Made three major voyages in which he discovered many of the islands of the south pacific, including the east coast of Australia. Cooktown, Queensland, is named after him. The house he grew up in was relocated from Yorkshire, England, to Melbourne, Australia and is open to visits (now known as Captain Cook’s Cottage and is situated in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne). Died 14 February 1779 after being stabbed by Hawaiians who credited their Chief Kalanimanokahoowaha (Kanaina) with the kill. Captain Cook’s body was then subjected to a funeral ritual that was normally reserved for a Chief.
27 October 1923 – birth of Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist. Died 29 September 1997.
27 October 1927 – death of Joseph Theodore Leslie (Squizzy) Taylor, Australian gangster, earned money from sly-grog, two-up, illegal bookmaking, extortion, prostitution, cocaine dealing. Died from a gunshot wound inflicted by ‘Snowy’ Cutmore. Born 29 June 1888.
27 October 2013 – death of Lou Reed (Lewis Allan Reed), American glam rock musician, singer and song-writer. Was lead singer of 60s alternative band, Velvet Underground, before going solo and having hits such as ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, ‘Vicious’, ‘Satellite of Love’ and ‘Perfect Day’. His albums Transformer and Berlin are considered among the most influential albums of the 20th century. Reed coined the term ‘Ostrich tuning’ in relation to a type of trivial tuning of strings. The six strings of a guitar are normally tuned to EADGbe. However in his 1964 song, The Ostrich (performed by the Primitives, which later became Velvet Underground) Reed tuned all six strings of his guitar to a single D note: DDDDdd. Born 2 March 1942.