shyster

noun

Definition of shysternext
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

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shyster And there’s a character on there who is—plays kind of a shyster attorney. — Nick Sibilla, Forbes, 11 Nov. 2022 The bubble-ists think that the Coreweave people are hopeless dreamers at best and shysters at worst. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2025 Lukens, almost alone, kept the faith, arguing that the bust had simply exposed honest dealers from shysters. — The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019 How Bob Odenkirk became the great American shyster in the riveting show, Better Call Saul. — Kyle Smith, National Review, 1 May 2022 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 To demonstrate that point in a video, a researcher told a robot arm to put a bunch of plastic grapes into a clear Tupperware container, then proceeded to shift three containers around on the table in an approximation of a shyster’s shell game. — Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 12 Mar. 2025 Holmes is another shyster whose story has been dissected in several documentaries and in dramatizations like Hulu’s The Dropout, but Gibney brings specific insights and a fresh perspective to this truly unbelievable story. — Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 31 July 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shyster
  1. lawyer
  2. attorney
  3. pettifogger
Noun
  • The justices, too, seemed eager to embrace electronic recording in cases where no court reporter is available and litigants cannot afford to pay for one on their own, repeatedly pressing lawyers on exactly how such a ruling might be written.
    — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Attorneys and the judge prepared the jury charge, which contains the instructions for the panel’s deliberations, and the lawyers made their closing arguments on Monday afternoon.
    — Star-Telegram staff. Produced with AI assistance, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 July 2026
Definition of lawyer
Noun
  • News cameras will be allowed to record and broadcast much of the hearing, the judge ruled last week over the objections of Robinson’s attorneys.
    — Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
  • The crucial pretrial hearing was pushed back as prosecutors and defense attorneys sparred over what evidence could be presented and if cameras would be allowed in the courtroom.
    — N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Definition of attorney
Noun
  • For nearly three years now, I’ve been fascinated by the performance art of this blustering pettifogger.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2023
Definition of pettifogger

Browse Nearby Words

shyness
shyster
shysters
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shyster.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shyster. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All