shy·ster
Audio Help [shahy-ster] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [shahy-ster] Pronunciation Key –noun Informal.
| 1. | a lawyer who uses unprofessional or questionable methods. |
| 2. | a person who gets along by petty, sharp practices. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
shyster
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| shy·ster
Audio Help (shī'stər) Pronunciation Key
n. Slang An unethical, unscrupulous practitioner, especially of law. [Probably alteration of German Scheisser, son of a bitch, bastard, from scheissen, to defecate, from Middle High German schīzen, from Old High German skīzzan; see skei- in Indo-European roots.] shy'ster·ism n. Word History: Calling someone a shyster might be considered libellous; knowing its probable origin adds insult to injury. According to Gerald L. Cohen, a student of the word, shyster is derived from the German term scheisser, meaning literally "one who defecates," from the verb scheissen, "to defecate," with the English suffix -ster, "one who does," substituted for the German suffix -er, meaning the same thing. Sheisser, which is chiefly a pejorative term, is the German equivalent of our English terms bastard and son of a bitch. Sheisser is generally thought to have been borrowed directly into English as the word shicer, which, among other things, is an Australian English term for an unproductive mine or claim, a sense that is also recorded for the word shyster. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
shyster
"unscrupulous lawyer," 1843, U.S. slang, probably altered from Ger. Scheisser "incompetent worthless person," from Scheisse "shit," from O.H.G. skizzan "to defecate" (see shit).
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| shyster | |
noun | |
| a person (especially a lawyer or politician) who uses unscrupulous or unethical methods |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Shyster
Shy"ster\, n. [Perh. from G. scheisse excrement.] A trickish knave; one who carries on any business, especially legal business, in a mean and dishonest way. [Slang, U.S.]| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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