The Meaning of Hustle: What It Is and How To Use It

Are you always hustling? Is that a good or bad thing? Hustle has many definitions — learn the meanings of hustle, today!

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The word hustle has several meanings. This article will explain all of them! You will also learn the origin of the word hustle, how to use hustle in a sentence, translations of hustle, and synonyms and antonyms. 

What Does the Word Hustle Mean?

According to Collins Dictionary of the English Language, the word hustle has a couple of potential meanings. The verb hustle means to swindle, cheat, or commit fraud. It can also mean to move at a quick pace, with energetic activity, or in an aggressive manner. 

We can also use hustle to refer to a popular ballroom dance style. This type of disco dance is one of many disco dance styles that requires a strong basic rhythm and utilizes a simple step pattern like Latin American dances. The term side hustle refers to a job that a person has outside of their main profession. Finally, hustle is Canadian slang for soliciting prostitutes for sexual purposes.

The word hustle is two syllables: hus-tle. Different forms of the word hustle use different suffixes, including hus-tled, hus-tling, and hus-tler. 

What Is the Etymology of Hustle?

According to Dictionary, people first used the word hustle in Middle English in the 17th century. This word comes from the Dutch husselen and Middle Dutch hutselen, meaning to shake. This is similar to the Dutch hutsen

How Can Hustle Be Used in a Sentence?

To learn how to use hustle in daily life, study the below sentences containing hustle and see which definition of hustle is used in each. 

The men were thrown in jail for their gambling hustle. The skillful players would use deception to trick pool “suckers,” or uninformed persons, into financial dealings through unethical means and played a dishonest gambling game to make sure they won every time. 

The children decided to hustle souvenirs from the souvenir vendors on the beach to use for their favor. One of the children, Dawn, would use high-pressure tactics on the vendor while the others would swing around the back of the stand to steal the trinkets.

The star’s manager hustled throngs of fans into coming to the theater’s back door. He promised them free tickets, but it was an elaborate scam to get them to buy the star’s new book. Secret service agents escorted the fans away with discourteous shoving.

In the hustle and bustle of the big city, the competitive struggle can become too much for some people. Some enjoy the state of busy activity, business dealings, and business, while it causes others confusion and woe.

Police officers arrested the entrepreneur after she hustled people into a bogus real estate deal through deceit in an unethical way. The illicit scheme tricked people into giving up the equivalent of millions of dollars.

Maria had always been a hustler. She worked three freelance jobs, one part-time job, and was a student at Princeton University full-time. She was featured on TV talk shows for her entrepreneurial spirit.

She decided to risk the odds of going to prison and hustle others by illicit means to make money. She loved the opportunity to practice theft.

What Are Translations of Hustle?

The word hustle is also present in other languages. Study this list of translations of hustle from Nice Translator!

  • Serbian: енергичност
  • Italian: attività febbrile
  • Estonian: hustle
  • Tamil: ஹஸ்டில்
  • Hungarian: lökdösődik
  • Russian: суетиться
  • Korean: 정력적 활동
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 喧囂
  • Japanese: ハッスル
  • Czech: ruch
  • Portuguese (Portugal): labuta
  • Slovak: hustý
  • Hebrew: הֲמוּלָה
  • Polish: gwar
  • Arabic: يسرع
  • Finnish: touhu
  • Bulgarian: блъскане
  • German: Eile
  • Welsh: hustle
  • Hindi: धकेलना
  • Filipino: pagmamadali
  • Norwegian: Hustle
  • Dutch: drukte
  • Greek: σπουδή
  • Basque: hobegi
  • Spanish: ajetreo
  • French: bousculer
  • Swahili: Hustle
  • Marathi: हस्टल
  • Kannada: ಹಸ್ಲ್
  • Amharic: ሂስታል
  • Croatian: energičnost
  • Catalan: enrot més
  • Portuguese (Brazil): labuta
  • Ukrainian: шум
  • Vietnamese: chen lấn
  • Urdu: ہسٹل
  • Telugu: హస్టిల్
  • Indonesian: mendorong dengan cepat
  • Thai: เร่งรีบ
  • Latvian: grūstīšanās
  • Turkish: acele
  • Swedish: liv
  • Malayalam: ഹസിൽ
  • Chinese (PRC): 喧嚣
  • Gujarati: હસ્ટલ

What Are Synonyms of Hustle?

To learn words with the same meaning as hustle, study this list from Power Thesaurus.

  • accelerate
  • be quick
  • bunco game
  • bunko game
  • bustle
  • con game
  • confidence game
  • confidence trick
  • dash
  • drive
  • elbow
  • flimflam
  • flurry
  • fly
  • force
  • fuss
  • get cracking
  • haste
  • hasten
  • hurry
  • hurry up
  • jog
  • jostle
  • manhandle
  • pluck
  • pressure
  • prod
  • push
  • race
  • roll
  • run
  • rush
  • scam
  • scamper
  • scoot
  • scramble
  • scurry
  • shoulder
  • shove
  • speed
  • speed up
  • sprint
  • sting
  • stir
  • tear
  • thrust
  • urge
  • work
  • work hard

What Are Antonyms of Hustle?

Power Thesaurus can also teach you many words with the opposite meaning of hustle.

  • admit
  • admit to the truth
  • amble
  • assent
  • avow
  • bare your heart
  • bare your soul
  • be as straight as a die
  • be blunt
  • be candid
  • be clear
  • be slow
  • catch one’s breath
  • crawl
  • dally
  • dawdle
  • delay
  • dilly-dally
  • do nothing
  • drag one’s feet
  • drag one’s heels
  • easy does it
  • fall behind
  • fritter time away
  • go on a vacation
  • go on vacation
  • hang fire
  • have a holiday
  • have a rest
  • have holiday
  • hold back
  • idle
  • kill time
  • lag
  • lag behind
  • laziness
  • linger
  • loiter
  • lounge
  • mark time
  • not keep pace
  • pause
  • potter about
  • potter around
  • potter round
  • procrastinate
  • relax
  • slowness
  • stall
  • take a break
  • take a holiday
  • take a rest
  • take one’s time
  • take time
  • take your time
  • tarry
  • tell the truth
  • wait
  • walk slowly
  • waste time

Conclusion

Overall, the word hustle has several different meanings. This word can refer to a fun type of dance, but more commonly, it is either used to mean to hurry or rush or to scam or trick. Have you ever been hustled, or have you ever had to hustle to get something done?

Sources:

  1. Hustle synonyms – 2 203 Words and Phrases for Hustle | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Hustle antonyms – 410 Opposites of Hustle | Power Thesaurus 
  3. Hustle Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com 
  4. Hustle definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary 
  5. Hustle | Nice Translator