I. ˈhəkstə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English hukster, hokster, from Middle Dutch hokester, hoekster, from hoken, hoeken to peddle, bear on the back, squat + -ster — more at hawker
1. : one that sells goods along the street or from door to door : hawker , peddler
2.
a. archaic : one that buys to resell at a profit : middleman
b. : one that acts primarily from mercenary motives
3.
a. : one that produces advertising material for commercial clients : adman
home is not the plastic chromium dream … the hucksters promised to them — R.W.Kenny
specifically : one that prepares or delivers commercials for radio or television
hucksters speak only to sponsors; and sponsors don't speak at all, they read sales charts — Walter Goodman
a syrupy-voiced huckster proclaiming the virtues of Dinkelspiel's Deodorant — Bennett Cerf
b. : one that employs persuasive showmanship to make a sale or attain an objective
the most adroit huckster of $1000 trinkets in our time — Maurice Zolotow
minds taught to respond without reflection to the slogans of our political hucksters — New Republic
II. verb
( huckstered ; huckstered ; huckstering -t(ə)riŋ ; hucksters )
intransitive verb
: haggle
huckster over prices on the black market
transitive verb
1. : to deal in or bargain over : retail for profit
huckster fresh eggs
huckster real estate
huckster his services
2. : to promote by showmanship
a store where cheap stuff is ballyhooed and huckstered into seeming richness — C.W.Drepperd