What does cheapjack mean?
A cheapjack is a peddler or street vendor who sells cheap, flashy, or inferior goods — historically one who hawked trinkets, novelties, and low-priced wares at markets and fairs. The word derives from 'cheap' (meaning inexpensive) combined with 'Jack', a familiar name long used generically for an ordinary man or tradesman. By extension, cheapjack functions as an adjective describing anything made or done in a shoddy, tawdry, or cut-rate manner: critics might condemn a film's 'cheapjack effects' or a novel's 'cheapjack plotting'. The noun sense has grown somewhat dated, evoking the bustling street markets of earlier centuries, but the adjectival sense remains current in evaluative writing. The word is invariably pejorative, implying not merely low price but poor quality and hollow flash — a useful term when 'cheap' alone doesn't capture the note of tawdriness and pretence that cheapjack conveys.
A hawker or peddler of cheap, showy, or inferior merchandise.
"The cheapjacks at the fair sold tin whistles and painted beads to delighted children."
Somewhat dated; chiefly historical or literary.
Cheap and shoddy; tawdry or of conspicuously low quality.
"The hotel lobby had a cheapjack glamour, all gilt plastic and imitation marble."
Always derogatory; common in critical reviews.
Standard plural for the noun sense; the adjective does not inflect.
"Cheapjacks lined the lane outside the stadium before every match."
The 'jack' in cheapjack is the same everyman 'jack' found in 'jack of all trades' — a name for an ordinary fellow who'd sell you anything, quality be damned.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cheapjack
Cheapjack combines 'cheap', from Old English 'cēap' meaning trade or purchase (ultimately from Latin 'caupō', small trader, borrowed into Germanic), with 'Jack', the generic pet form of 'John' used since the Middle Ages for any common man or tradesman. It arose in British commercial slang, probably in the 18th century, for itinerant sellers of low-cost goods. Its root 'cēap' also gives us 'chaffer', 'chapman' (an archaic word for merchant), and the verb 'chap' meaning to buy.
How cheapjack is actually used
As a noun, cheapjack is somewhat dated but still appears in historical or literary writing about street markets. As an adjective it survives more robustly in critical writing, where it carries a strongly derogatory tone implying shoddiness and pretension. The word always carries negative connotation.
Easily confused with cheapjack
A cheapskate is a stingy person who refuses to spend money, while a cheapjack is a seller of cheap goods or, adjectivally, something shoddy and low-quality.