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Glite Dictionary
cheap-jack

cheap-jack

1 9.9
A person who sells poor-quality goods in a loud, showy way
  • noun
  • /ˈtʃipˌdʒæk/
  • Offensive
translation icon : vendedor de baratijas
  • At the market, the cheap-jack shouted loudly to attract customers to his low-quality goods.

Examples

  • The cheap-jack proudly displayed his wares, but most people could tell they were shoddy imitations.

  • Everyone knows not to buy from the cheap-jack at the fair, as his products often break the same day.

  • I didn't think a cheap jack like you could start a panic.

    The Toast of New York (1937)

  • Do you mean grafters who keep sugar in their warehouses so that people have to go without, or the cheap-jacks who, by bribery and high-school sentiment, manage to control elections?

    Blog text (30)

Synonyms

huckster
vscheap-jack
  • Offensive
12 8.6

A person who sells cheap goods in a pushy or dishonest way

relies on open showy selling of poor goods without implied deceit
schlockmeister
vscheap-jack
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who makes or sells cheap, low quality goods to make money

focuses on selling poor items in public places rather than making them
cheapjack
vscheap-jack
  • Offensive
9.3

A person who sells poor quality goods in a showy way

has identical meaning but is written without a hyphen
slop-seller
vscheap-jack
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who offers cheap ready-made clothes for working people

covers selling many types of low quality goods at public markets

How Reputable

merchant
203 2.1
trader
279 2.1
peddler
8 5.7
cheap-jack
  • Offensive
1 9.9
con artist
40 4.8

Surface Forms

cheap-jack singular
cheap-jacks plural

Morphology

cheap-jack = cheap + jack (semi-transparent) = cheap + jack

The components 'cheap' and 'jack' are form-meaningful, but 'jack' as an agent/seller is not a productive suffix for many learners, so deriving 'seller of cheap goods' is partly but not fully obvious.

Etymology

The word cheap-jack comes from cheap ('low price') and jack ('man' or 'seller', as in jack-of-all-trades). It gives the image of a loud market seller who sells poor-quality goods in a showy way, so a cheap-jack is someone known for selling shoddy items.