shyster

[ shahy-ster ]
See synonyms for shyster on Thesaurus.com
nounInformal.
  1. a lawyer who uses unprofessional or questionable methods.

  2. a person who gets along by petty, sharp practices.

Origin of shyster

1
1835–45, Americanism; probably <German Scheisser, equivalent to scheiss(en) to shit + -er-er1; final -ser conformed to -ster

Other words from shyster

  • shy·ster·ism, noun

Words that may be confused with shyster

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shyster in a sentence

  • "None of your pin-head two-by-four shysters that you see here in the East," exclaimed Mr. Sleighter.

    The Major | Ralph Connor
  • Somehow, the well-to-do people do not get into the hands of shysters.

    The Best Policy | Elliott Flower
  • There are tyrants and shysters in all positions, and especially those dressed in subordinate authority.

    The Wound Dresser | Walt Whitman
  • One who does business trickily; a person without professional honor: used chiefly of lawyers; as, pettifoggers and shysters.

    By Advice of Counsel | Arthur Train
  • You've taken back what's your own, in your own way, without havin' to give law-shysters the biggest part for gettin' it.

British Dictionary definitions for shyster

shyster

/ (ˈʃaɪstə) /


noun
  1. informal, mainly US a person, esp a lawyer or politician, who uses discreditable or unethical methods

Origin of shyster

1
C19: probably based on Scheuster, name of a disreputable 19th-century New York lawyer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012