How to use foist in a sentence

13 example sentences · verb, noun

Foist means to introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant. Example: “But apart from this, it is difficult for a man like Watt to tell a long story like Watt's without leaving out some things, and foisting in others.”

Examples of foist by meaning

verbTo introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant.

But apart from this, it is difficult for a man like Watt to tell a long story like Watt's without leaving out some things, and foisting in others.1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC
attempts to foist alleged grammatical “correctness” on native speakers of an “incorrect” dialect are nothing but the unacknowledged and oppressive exercise of social control2006, Theodore Dalrymple, The Gift of Language

verbTo force another to accept especially by stealth or deceit; to stick.

I am, of course, perfectly aware of how old men try to foist on the public the decay of their intellects and all the rest of their senile shortcomings as valuable qualities, the possession of which gives them special authority.1933 August, [George] Bernard Shaw, The Political Madhouse in America and Nearer Home: A Lecture, London: Constable & Co, →OCLC, page 11

verbTo pass off as genuine or worthy.

foist costly and valueless products on the public1969, Jonathan Spivak, “Competitive Problems in the Drug Industry”, in The Wall Street Journal

nounA thief or pickpocket.

The foist had lately arrived form the country and was known to be doing a thriving trade in and around Westminster Hall where many country folk and others came to see lawyers.1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society, published 2006, page 54

More sentences with foist

Countries with export surpluses foisted them off by bounties or placed them through unilateral agreements.2017, Broadus Mitchell, The Depression Decade, page 182. From the entry foist off
“Eighty-something, and he’s even more of a horn-dog since Pfizer foisted Viagra on the world.”2004, Kelly Lange, Dead File. From the entry horn-dog
It's become impossible to keep abreast of all the best-ofs, as labels keep foisting greatest-hits albums on overwhelmed consumers.2000 December, SPIN, volume 16, number 12. From the entry best-of
Exhibit A is a textbook example of a bullshot, an image ginned up by marketing and foisted on people who don't know any better.2005 September 12, “Potent New Lingo”, in Penny Arcade, retrieved 15 Jun 2012. From the entry bullshot
Democracy is in disrepair, big business alternatingly rents, seeks, or foists cultural rot onto the complacent public, and education is mindnumbingly awash in psychological fads.2001, Mike N. Castle, editor, School Violence: Views of Students & the Community: Congressional Hearings, DIANE Publishing, →ISBN, page 6. From the entry mind-numbingly
When Zeytuna didn't want to do her chores, she foisted them off on Lidya, who'd spent years being her caregiver and took over without a whisper of complaint.2014, Mary Ostyn, Forever Mom: What to Expect When You're Adopting, page 92. From the entry foist off
There are weak keys in the sense that their use by foisting chosen plaintexts can be proved, which could be interesting for chip cards with a ‘burnt-in key’.2007, Reinhard Wobst, “Life After DES: New Methods, New Attacks”, in Angelika Shafir, transl., Cryptology Unlocked, John Wiley & Sons…. From the entry plaintext
It is only when the state adopts a trade language as official and, in a fit of linguistic nationalism, foists it upon its citizens, that trade languages become "killer languages."2012, Danny Hieber, Mises Daily, Why Do Languages Die?. From the entry killer language

Meaning of foist

verb To introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant.
verb To force another to accept especially by stealth or deceit; to stick.
verb To pass off as genuine or worthy.

Full definition of foist

Questions about foist in a sentence

How do you use foist in a sentence?: Foist is used as a verb and noun. For example: “But apart from this, it is difficult for a man like Watt to tell a long story like Watt's without leaving out some things, and foisting in others.”
What is a short sentence with foist?: “foist costly and valueless products on the public”
What does foist mean?: Foist means to introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant.

Adapted from Wiktionary: foist (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use foist in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/foist. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.