illywhacker
UK/ˈɪliwakə/
illywhacker noun: a small-time confidence trickster or seller of trinkets.
Noun
illywhacker (plural illywhackers)
- A small-time confidence trickster or seller of trinkets.
- ‘What's an illywhacker?’ said Charles. ‘Spieler,’ explained Leah, who was not used to children.1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 228
Forms of illywhacker
| plural | illywhackers |
|---|---|
| alternative form | illywacker |
Origin of illywhacker
Uncertain. Suggested by lexicographer Sidney Baker to derive from illy (variant of eeler, from pig Latin eeler-spee for spieler) + whacker. The verb form whack the illy is a back-formation from the noun.
Words formed from illywhacker
Questions about illywhacker
- What does illywhacker mean?
- Illywhacker means a small-time confidence trickster or seller of trinkets.
- What part of speech is illywhacker?
- Illywhacker is a noun.
- How do you pronounce illywhacker?
- Illywhacker is pronounced /ˈɪliwakə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of illywhacker?
- The plural of illywhacker is illywhackers.
Words near illywhacker in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: illywhacker (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 illywhacker.ogg.
Cite this entry: “illywhacker.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/illywhacker. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.