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shyster - 4 dictionary results

shy⋅ster

  [shahy-ster]
Use shyster in a Sentence
–noun Informal.
1. a lawyer who uses unprofessional or questionable methods.
2. a person who gets along by petty, sharp practices.
Origin:
1835–45, Americanism; prob. < G Scheisser, equiv. to scheiss(en) to shit + -er -er 1 ; final -ser conformed to -ster

Related forms:
shy⋅ster⋅ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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shy·ster   (shī'stər)   
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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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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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
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