T. C. DesmondJonathan SpivakDavid 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-1500sfoist was all about dicedicebabyreferring to palming—that isconcealing 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 vuistenmeaning “to take into one’s hand.” Vuisten in turn comes from vuystthe Middle Dutch word for “fist,” which itself is distantly related to the Old English ancestor of fist. By the late 16th centuryfoist was being used in English to mean “to insert surreptitiously,” and it quickly acquired the “force to accept” meaning that is most familiar today.
Examples of foist in a Sentence
Angelica Jade BastiénVulture19 Dec. 2025
The agency first fixed that by pumping groundwater back to the riverbut that foisted the salt problem onto Mexican farmerswho have a treaty right to clean river water.
—Brandon LoomisAZCentral.com15 Dec. 2025
Fleck wouldof courseavoid the thornier elements foisted on Richard Pitino last decade.
—Andy GrederTwin Cities25 Nov. 2025
This new ambition is being foisted upon one of Toyota’s oldest nameplatesdating back over 50 yearsand also its proudesta car that has been used by the Japanese emperor for a lot of that time.
—Erik ShillingRobb Report12 Nov. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Foist.” Merriam-Webster.com DictionaryMerriam-Websterhttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foist. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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foist
verb
