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

Musk’s power and privilege seem to be veering him into Howard Hughes-weird territory, where his crazy theories are matched only by his unique ability to foist them on the rest of us. —Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2024

The alternative is to continue to privilege authoritarian structures of governance foisted on them by outsiders, systems that were originally designed to advance the interests of colonizers and now benefit a small group of autocratic elites. —Uzodinma Iweala, Foreign Affairs, 21 June 2022

Executives were also wary of foisting higher prices on consumers, especially after many big corporations were accusing of price gouging lately. —Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2024

Editorial: Don’t foist transgender anxiety on these Olympic boxers. —Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 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