Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A peddler or dealer of cheap goods.
  • adjective Inferior in quality or value; tawdry.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A peddler, a travelling hawker.
  • adjective shabby

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From cheap +‎ Jack.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cheapjack.

Examples

  • We have a second skirmish prepared, in which, once again, you can listen and choose between two related Fab Four deception records tooled to cash in on that whole British Invasion "fad," this time released on the cheapjack Diplomat label.

    Boing Boing 2008

  • But if Eason Jordan, the BBC and Katie Couric don't mention it, perhaps it doesn't need to be considered when cheapjack political point-scoring is a primary objective.

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009

  • But stick with the cheapjack chin-puller smarm posing as serious commentary, Alex.

    John Terry’s sacking as England captain tells us something interesting... 2009

  • Walking down a back alley I cam across this cheapjack apartment.

    Boyle Heights william wray 2007

  • I can even find a place in my heart for Larry Buchanan's cheapjack DAY THE WORLD ENDED redux IN THE YEAR 2889 1967 , although it brings to mind less the End of the World as We Know It than the wasted, tedious nights I spent with college friends waiting in a dreary Wooster Square basement flat for their cocaine dealer to show.

    Knock, knock... who's left? Arbogast 2007

  • Walking down a back alley I cam across this cheapjack apartment.

    Archive 2007-03-01 william wray 2007

  • Even with the 1996 TV movie to pave the way, it was still somewhat jarring to see 'Doctor Who' entirely filmed and not on cheapjack videotape.

    O'BSERVATIONS: "ROSE" Toby O'B 2005

  • A gee (or jee — it is pronounced jee) — the accomplice of a cheapjack, who stimulates trade by pretending to buy something.

    Down and Out in Paris and London 2004

  • This book will make the reader proud of the best elements of contemporary culture -- not always an easy feat to accomplish, in the face of the more lurid and cheapjack portions of modern life.

    Asimov's Science Fiction 2003

  • I thought his favor was excessive; certainly I never thought their powers were any more real than those cheapjack toadstone-peddlers or the granny-wives who claim they can put a bad word on someone's cow.

    The Silent Tower Hambly, Barbara 1986

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "'It's all right,' Sam explained blandly, pointing to the blackboard. 'I told you this fellow was only a cheapjack, one of those lads you see at the fair, selling imitation jewellery. You'll see it all in a minute.'"

    - Frank O'Connor, 'The Cheapjack'.

    September 6, 2008