foist

verb

ˈfȯist 

foisted; foisting; foists

transitive verb

1

a

: to introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant

b

: to force another to accept especially by stealth or deceit

when the states … foist unnecessary expenses on local taxpayers

—T. C. Desmond

2

: to pass off as genuine or worthy

foist costly and valueless products on the public

—Jonathan Spivak

… inferior caviar has been foisted on an unknowing public …

—David Rosengarten

Did you know?

That the word foist is commonly used today to mean “to force another to accept by stealth or deceit” makes sense given its original—now obsolete—use in talking about a bit of literal sleight of hand. When it first rolled into English in the mid-1500s, foist was all about dice, dice, baby, referring to palming—that is, concealing in one’s hand a phony die so as to secretly introduce it into a game at a convenient time. The action involved in this cheating tactic reflects the etymology of foist: the word is believed to have come from the obsolete Dutch verb vuisten, meaning “to take into one’s hand.” Vuisten in turn comes from vuyst, the Middle Dutch word for “fist,” which itself is distantly related to the Old English ancestor of fist. By the late 16th century, foist was being used in English to mean “to insert surreptitiously,” and it quickly acquired the “force to accept” meaning that is most familiar today.

Synonyms

• fob off
• palm
• palm off
• pass off
• wish

Examples of foist in a Sentence

shopkeepers who foist shoddy souvenirs on unsuspecting tourists

Recent Examples on the Web

Darwin Blanch, 16, USA Blanch, an American 6ft 3in leftie, has been foisted with ‘Next Big Thing’ status for a little while. —Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 21 Aug. 2024

Residents complained that visitors to the Frogtown Flea Crawl clogged local streets with cars, left behind trash and foisted other nuisances on residents. —Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024

In Europe, Cadillac has always been a footnote and a symbol of American folly in foisting U.S. sensibilities on unwilling European luxury customers. —Michael Taylor, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024

When someone foisted a microphone into her hand, Kennedy explained her reluctance with candor. —Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 10 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably from obsolete Dutch vuisten to take into one's hand, from Middle Dutch vuysten, from vuyst fist; akin to Old English fȳst fist

First Known Use

circa 1587, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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Kids Definition

foist

verb

ˈfȯist 

: to pass off (something false) as genuine