This week’s theme
Words to describe people

This week’s words
snollygoster
highbinder
wirepuller
four-flusher
jackleg

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(FOHR-flush-uhr)

MEANING:

noun: A pretender, bluffer, or fraudster.

ETYMOLOGY:

In a game of poker, a full flush is five cards of the same suit. A four-flush, only four cards of the same suit, is almost worthless. A player pretending to have a full flush while holding only a four-flush, is said to be a four-flusher. Earliest documented use: 1904.

USAGE:

“Mr. Corbett was basically a four-flusher. He cut education funding in a monumentally shortsighted move and double-crossed the Post-Gazette for its 2010 endorsement.”
Dan Simpson; Giving Thanks for This and That; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania); Nov 26, 2014.

See more usage examples of four-flusher in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: