quack

C2+ Topic:Senses & Perception

US /kwæk/ UK /kwæk/ See IPA manual

noun verb

Meanings

1

noun
a fraudulent medical practitioner, or the sound a duck makes

The so-called doctor was exposed as a quack selling useless tonics.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a fraudulent medical... charlatan impostor fraud mountebank fake pretender

Opposites

expert specialist

Word family

Derived forms quackeryquacking

Related forms quacksalver

Etymology

In the 'fraud' sense, short for quacksalver, from Dutch kwakzalver ('hawker of salve'). In the duck sense, of imitative (onomatopoeic) origin.

kwakzalver Dutch

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Topics

Senses & Perception

# quack

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** kwæk
**IPA (UK):** kwæk

## Meanings
1. a fraudulent medical practitioner, or the sound a duck makes

## Examples
- The so-called doctor was exposed as a quack selling useless tonics.

## Synonyms
- charlatan
- impostor
- fraud
- mountebank
- fake
- pretender

## Antonyms
- expert
- specialist

## Derived Forms
- quackery
- quacking

## Related Forms
- quacksalver

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: kwakzalver

## Etymology
In the 'fraud' sense, short for quacksalver, from Dutch kwakzalver ('hawker of salve'). In the duck sense, of imitative (onomatopoeic) origin.

## AI Etymology
Quack is in the 'fraud' sense, short for quacksalver, from Dutch kwakzalver ('hawker of salve'). In the duck sense, of imitative (onomatopoeic) origin. Important recorded forms include kwakzalver (Dutch). The modern sense follows that older lexical line closely. In current use it covers a fraudulent medical practitioner, or the sound a duck makes. The wider family includes derived forms such as quackery and quacking and related words such as quacksalver.

## Topics
- Senses & Perception

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quack

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