Nearby Words

quacker

[kwak] Origin

quack

2[kwak]
noun
1.
a fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill.
2.
a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she does not possess; a charlatan.
adjective
3.
being a quack: a quack psychologist who complicates everyone's problems.
4.
presented falsely as having curative powers: quack medicine.
5.
of, pertaining to, or befitting a quack or quackery: quack methods.

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Quacker is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
verb (used with object)
6.
to treat in the manner of a quack.
7.
to advertise or sell with fraudulent claims.

Origin:
1620–30; short for quacksalver

quack·ish, adjective
quack·ish·ly, adverb
quack·ish·ness, noun


2. mountebank, phony.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

quack
"medical charlatan," 1638, short for quacksalver (1579), from Du. kwaksalver, lit. "hawker of salve," from M.Du. quacken "to brag, boast," lit. "to croak" (see quack (v.)) + zalf "salve." Cf. Ger. Quacksalber, Dan. kvaksalver, Swed. kvacksalvare.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

quack (kwāk)
n.

  1. An untrained person who pretends to be a physician and dispenses medical advice and treatment.

  2. A charlatan.


quack'er·y n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Slang Dictionary

quack definition


  1. n.
    a fraudulent physician; a derogatory term for a physician. : I won't go back to that quack ever again!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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