quackery

American  

[kwak-uh-ree] / ˈkwæk ə ri /

noun

plural

quackeries

1. the practice or methods of a quack.

2. an instance of this.

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quackery British  

/ ˈkwækərɪ /

noun

1. the activities or methods of a quack

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Etymology

Origin of quackery

First recorded in 1700–10; quack ² + -ery

Explanation

Quackery is when someone pretends to have experience or knowledge, especially in the field of medicine. It's quackery when someone poses as a doctor. If a person fakes being a medical doctor, that's quackery. You can also call it quackery when a company sells an herb or supplement or diet aid that doesn't actually do anything. Some doctors feel that any alternative medicine is nothing but quackery, while others believe that some of these things — like meditation or acupuncture — really work for patients. Quackery is from the 1690's, from a Dutch root word, quacksalver, "hawker of salve."

Example Sentences

As a young mother, she rejected traditional medicine in favor of homeopathy, then thought to be a form of quackery.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

And that is alarming, because Kennedy is a charlatan who opposes evidence-based medicine and promotes discredited quackery.

From Slate • Jun. 27, 2025

Mainstream legal scholars say the theory is quackery.

From Salon • Jan. 13, 2023

For years, diet drugs were viewed as vanity treatments or outright quackery, and many were pulled from the market because of dangerous side effects, including death.

From Washington Post • Dec. 19, 2022

His nutritional quackery even led him to monitor her regularity like a doctor, and some of their biggest fights came as a result of his interrogating Lina about her stools.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides