shyster
noun
shy·ster ˈshī-stər 
: a person who is professionally unscrupulous especially in the practice of law or politics : pettifogger
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web How Bob Odenkirk became the great American shyster in the riveting show, Better Call Saul. 
Kyle Smith, National Review, 1 May 2022 Marty the nebbish, Ike the shyster, Phyllis the shrew. Judy Berman, Time, 8 Nov. 2021 In the 1930s, it was purchased by Norman Baker, a shyster who lured cancer patients to come here for treatments that had no medicinal value. Valerie Fraser Luesse, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2020 Small business owners trying to stay afloat as the economy reels from the impact of the coronavirus can add another worry to the list: shysters pretending to be affiliated with the federal government's flagship relief program. Kate Gibson, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2020 Lukens, almost alone, kept the faith, arguing that the bust had simply exposed honest dealers from shysters. The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019 Fyre Festival shyster Billy McFarland was just caught allegedly selling fake tickets to the Met Ball. refinery29.com, 15 June 2018 Some cryptocurrency pioneers think alt-coins are thus more like penny stocks—ones that get talked up by shysters to lure in naive investors, who get fleeced. Kotryna Zukauskaite, Smithsonian, 20 Mar. 2018 So Tillerson stepped down as the CEO of one of the largest corporations in the world to cap his career spending one year being jerked around by a louche New York City shyster. Rob Tornoe, Philly.com, 13 Mar. 2018 See More
Kyle Smith, National Review, 1 May 2022 Marty the nebbish, Ike the shyster, Phyllis the shrew. Judy Berman, Time, 8 Nov. 2021 In the 1930s, it was purchased by Norman Baker, a shyster who lured cancer patients to come here for treatments that had no medicinal value. Valerie Fraser Luesse, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2020 Small business owners trying to stay afloat as the economy reels from the impact of the coronavirus can add another worry to the list: shysters pretending to be affiliated with the federal government's flagship relief program. Kate Gibson, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2020 Lukens, almost alone, kept the faith, arguing that the bust had simply exposed honest dealers from shysters. The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019 Fyre Festival shyster Billy McFarland was just caught allegedly selling fake tickets to the Met Ball. refinery29.com, 15 June 2018 Some cryptocurrency pioneers think alt-coins are thus more like penny stocks—ones that get talked up by shysters to lure in naive investors, who get fleeced. Kotryna Zukauskaite, Smithsonian, 20 Mar. 2018 So Tillerson stepped down as the CEO of one of the largest corporations in the world to cap his career spending one year being jerked around by a louche New York City shyster. Rob Tornoe, Philly.com, 13 Mar. 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
probably from German Scheisser, literally, defecator
First Known Use
1844, in the meaning defined above
shyster
noun
as in lawyer
chiefly US, informal a person who is dishonest especially in politics or in the practice of law —often used before another noun a shyster lawyer Synonyms & Similar Words
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- lawyer
- pettifogger
- attorney
- advocate
- ambulance chaser
- solicitor
- counselor
- prosecutor
- counsel
- counsellor
- attorney-at-law
- cocounsel
- solicitor
- counselor-at-law
- legal eagle
- district attorney
- mouthpiece
- criminal lawyer
- prosecuting attorney
- Philadelphia lawyer
- trial lawyer
- jurist
- public defender
- legislator
- lawmaker
- lawgiver
- solon
- anastyloses
- anastylosis
- anat
- anatase
- anatases
- anatectic
- anatexes
- anatexis
- anath
- anathema
- anathemas
- anathemata
- anathematic
- anathematical
- anathematically
- anathematisation
- anathematisations
- anathematise
- anathematised
- anathematises
- anathematising
- anathematism
- anathematization
- anathematizations
- anathematize