Foist

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /fɔɪst/

Definitions

1. To force something unwanted or inferior upon someone through deception or coercion
2. To impose an unwelcome or deceitful item on another person by means of trickery or pressure
3. To pass off something inferior or undesirable onto someone through fraud or manipulation

Etymology: The most striking thing about "foist" is that it may come from a fist. One proposed origin is archaic Dutch "vuisten," meaning "to take into one's hand," from the same root as "vuyst," or fist. Related forms appear in Old English as "fyst," so the word may share ancestry with the English noun for a clenched hand. The sense of grasping something and passing it off would then have shifted toward slipping an unwanted item onto someone else, though the exact path is uncertain. A second, separate line of descent runs through Old French "fuste," meaning "stick" or "boat," from Latin "fustis," meaning "cudgel." This line gave French "fût," meaning "cask" or "barrel," and it is one of several candidate sources that scholars have considered. Because the evidence is incomplete, the two origins are best held as competing possibilities rather than settled fact.

Synonyms: impose, inflict, force, dump, shove

Antonyms: remove, withdraw, eliminate, free, relieve