shyster
/ˈʃaɪs.tɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.86 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law and politics.
verb
To act in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law and politics.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "True, it was a good advertisement at Boosters' Club lunches, and all the varieties of Annual Banquets to which Good Fellows were invited, to speak sonorously of […] a thing called Ethics, whose nature was confusing but if you had it you were a High-class Realtor and if you hadn't you were a shyster, a piker, and a fly-by-night."
- "The network canceled—nonco-operation their legal shysters said. Suing me, for, for ten million clams, damages to sponsors, agencies. Internal Revenue-Uncle Whiskers says I owe them a mint."
- "I could sue you, Polly. A shyster is a disreputable lawyer. I'm a quack."
Etymology
US origin, 19th century. The etymology of the word is not generally agreed upon. The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as "of obscure origin," possibly deriving from a historical sense of shy meaning "disreputable", equivalent to shy + -ster. Other sources suggest the word derives from shicer, from the German Scheißer (“incompetent worthless person”), from scheißen (“to defecate”), probably influenced by -ster. Not related to shylock.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Scheißer
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈʃaɪs.tɚ/
- British English: /ˈʃaɪs.tə(ɹ)/
Usage
Inflected Forms
shysters (plural)
schister (alternative)
scheister (alternative)
sheister (alternative)
schyster (alternative)
shister (alternative)
shaista (alternative)
shiester (alternative)
schiester (alternative)
shysters (present, singular)
shystering (participle, present)
shystered (participle, past)