Dictionary

shyster en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈʃaɪs.tɚ/ (US)
• /ˈʃaɪs.tə(ɹ)/ (UK)

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.

Meanings

1. Someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law and politics.
   • I could sue you, Polly. A shyster is a disreputable lawyer. I'm a quack. 1981, Blake Edwards, S.O.B. (motion picture), spoken by Dr. Irving Finegarten (Robert Preston):
   • 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. 1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter IV, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:
   • 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. 1973, Lucas Webb, Stribling, page 188:

Forms

Deriveds

shysterism · shiesty · shysterish

Synonyms

pettifogger

Translations (14)

ru мерзавец (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · bg шарлатанин (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · ru мерзавка (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · sq tinëzare (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · sq tinëzar (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · sv brännvinsadvokat (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · de Gauner (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · el δικολάβος (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · de Winkeladvokat (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · fr chicaneur (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · gl avogado das silveiras (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · bg мошеник (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · de Rechtsverdreher (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way) · fr avocaillon (someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way)

shyster en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈʃaɪs.tɚ/ (US)
• /ˈʃaɪs.tə(ɹ)/ (UK)

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.

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To act in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law and politics.
2. (transitive) To exploit (someone or something) in this way.

Forms