What does "quackery" mean?
The practice of fraudulent medicine, usually in order to make money or for ego gratification and power; health fraud.
Quackery
/ˈkwæk(ə)ri/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The practice of fraudulent medicine, usually in order to make money or for ego gratification and power; health fraud.
- Grammar: quackery is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: charlatan, charlatanism, charlatanry, deception.
- Useful contrasts: authenticity, credibility, legitimacy.
- Usage evidence: Dozens of astrological journals and newspapers are published; quackery drives out medicine; and all this mystical squalor is justified in every possible way by philosophical argumentation.
How to use "quackery"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "quackery" in a final draft.
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
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Check whether "quackery" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 The practice of fraudulent medicine, usually in order to make money or for ego gratification and power; health fraud. uncountable
"When no certain cure exists, quack remedies tend to proliferate and the history of quackery and secret cures is full of extraordinary forms of treatment for the various arthritic disorders."
- 2 medical practice and advice based on observation and experience in ignorance of scientific findings wordnet
- 3 An instance of practicing fraudulent medicine. countable
"[…] the manifold and serpentine wiles and evasions, shufflings and fencings, deceits and dissimulations, he had practised —the bunkums and the quackeries, […]"
- 4 the dishonesty of a charlatan wordnet
Antonyms
Example
"Dozens of astrological journals and newspapers are published; quackery drives out medicine; and all this mystical squalor is justified in every possible way by philosophical argumentation."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "quackery"?
Common synonyms include: charlatan, charlatanism, charlatanry, deception, empiricism, fraud.
How do you use "quackery" in a sentence?
Dozens of astrological journals and newspapers are published; quackery drives out medicine; and all this mystical squalor is justified in every possible way by philosophical argumentation.
How do you pronounce "quackery"?
Pronounced /ˈkwæk(ə)ri/.
Etymology
From quack + -ery.