tinhorn

[ tin-hawrn ]

noun
  1. someone, especially a gambler, who pretends to be important but actually has little money, influence, or skill.

adjective
  1. cheap and insignificant; small-time: a tinhorn racket.

Origin of tinhorn

1
An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; tin + horn

Words Nearby tinhorn

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

How to use tinhorn in a sentence

  • That makes them mad and the tinhorn bunch keep stirring up trouble.

    Corporal Cameron | Ralph Connor
  • But we don't get many men with your background—cop, tinhorn, fighter—who have brains enough for our work.

    Police Your Planet | Lester del Rey
  • When tinhorn dealt him another jack he bought more chips and backed his pair, for tinhorn, as yet, had none in sight.

    'Me-Smith' | Caroline Lockhart
  • The next turn showed up a queen for tinhorn and a three-spot for Smith.

    'Me-Smith' | Caroline Lockhart
  • But there was one person his story did involve, and that was Spiker, the tinhorn, tenderfoot sport of Noches.

    Mavericks | William MacLeod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for tinhorn

tinhorn

/ (ˈtɪnˌhɔːn) US slang /


noun
  1. a cheap pretentious person, esp a gambler with extravagant claims

adjective
  1. cheap and showy

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