shill

1 of 2

verb

ˈshil 

shilled; shilling; shills

intransitive verb

1

: to act as a shill

2

: to act as a spokesperson or promoter

the eminent Shakespearean producer … is now shilling for a brokerage house

—Andy Rooney

shill

2 of 2

noun

1

a

: one who acts as a decoy (as for a pitchman or gambler)

b

: one who makes a sales pitch or serves as a promoter

2

: pitch sense 8a

Did you know?

The Conniving Roots of Shill

The action at the heart of the verb shill—promoting someone or something for pay—is not, on its face, unseemly. After all, that is what marketers and public relations firms do. But when someone is said to be shilling for something or someone there is a distinct note of disapproval, and often the implication that the act is somehow corrupt or dishonest, or that the product or person being promoted is not to be trusted. This connotation is actually the word’s birthright: in the early 1900s, the noun shill referred to a type of con artist, specifically one who aided others in their efforts to part people from their money. For example, a shill might be paid to fake a big win at a casino to make a game look easily winnable. The first uses of the verb shill, appearing around the same time as the noun, show it applying to the kinds of cons shills did, but the term eventually came to be used in cases when someone was simply promoting someone or something. Perhaps fitting for a word with a criminal past, shill has a mysterious origin: it’s thought to be a shortened form of the older synonymous term shillaber, but the etymological trail goes cold there.

Examples of shill in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The Trump decision follows a long line of cases in which the current majority has shilled for relentless forces that crave a powerful presidency, a weakened Congress, weaker protections for consumer and the environment, and the trampling of reproductive choice in favor of religious zealotry. —Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 5 Aug. 2024

Scheana Shay, who married and had a child with a burly trainer from New Zealand named Brock Davies, has shilled for the weight-loss aid Hydroxycut and released a couple of dance singles. —Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 13 July 2024

Noun

And if the government appoints a shill to the position, the credibility of the whole system evaporates. —Omar S. Bashir, Foreign Affairs, 24 Sep. 2012

Carrie will be with us for the whole ride and will quickly prove no mere Establishment shill. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

perhaps short for shillaber, of unknown origin

First Known Use

Verb

circa 1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

circa 1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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