English

Alternative forms

• quack-salver

Noun

quacksalver ‎(plural quacksalvers)

1. (archaic) One falsely claiming to possess medical or other skills, especially one who dispenses potions, ointments, etc. supposedly having curative powers.
   • 1822, Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak, ch. 38:

     "Your Grace does not mean Dr. Wilderhead's powder of projection?"

     "Pshaw! he is a quacksalver, and mountebank, and beggar."

   • 1910, Jeffrey Farnol, The Broad Highway, ch 34:

     "I come before you, ladies and gentlemen, . . . to introduce to you what I call my Elixir Anthropos . . . ."

     . . . [H]e listened intently to the quack-salver's address, and from time to time his eyes would twinkle and his lips curve in an ironic smile.

   • 1927, "Town Criers," New York Times, 2 Oct., p. E8:

     One is reminded of a familiar figure of medieval fairs, who survived long in this country [England], and perhaps still survives in remote districts—the quacksalver who hawks his infallible remedies from a wagon.

Synonyms

• quack

Derived terms

• quack (Etymology 2)
• quacksalverism
• quacksalvery

Translations