1.
dealer; pusher; illegal seller (especially of drugs)
In contemporary Japanese this word almost always refers to someone who sells illegal drugs on the street. It carries strong negative connotations and appears in news reports about drug busts, crime novels, and films. The older general sense of "trader, merchant" has largely faded from everyday use.
Composed of 売 (selling) and 〜人 (person). Historically the word meant simply "seller" or "merchant," but in modern usage it is strongly associated with illegal drug dealers. Outside of crime-related contexts, the word can also be used humorously or disparagingly for anyone who pushes a product aggressively, but this extended use always carries a negative undertone.
Common collocations
- 麻薬の売人: drug dealer
- 覚醒剤の売人: meth dealer
- 売人を逮捕する: to arrest a dealer
- 売人から買う: to buy from a dealer
- 売人グループ: a dealer ring
Similar words
- 販売員: sales clerk, salesperson — a neutral word for someone who sells goods at a store
- 商人: merchant, trader — neutral, for legitimate business
- 密売人: smuggler, black-market dealer — explicitly criminal, somewhat formal
- ディーラー: dealer (loanword) — neutral for car dealers, but also used for drug dealers in casual speech