| / English Dictionary |
HUMBUG
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: humbugged , humbugging
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage
Synonyms:
dupery; fraud; fraudulence; hoax; humbug; put-on
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("humbug" is a kind of...):
chicane; chicanery; guile; shenanigan; trickery; wile (the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "humbug"):
goldbrick (anything that is supposed to be valuable but turns out to be worthless)
Derivation:
humbug (trick or deceive)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Communication (written or spoken) intended to deceive
Synonyms:
humbug; snake oil
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("humbug" is a kind of...):
deceit; deception; misrepresentation (a misleading falsehood)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Pretentious or silly talk or writing
Synonyms:
baloney; bilgewater; boloney; bosh; drool; humbug; taradiddle; tarradiddle; tommyrot; tosh; twaddle
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("humbug" is a kind of...):
bunk; hokum; meaninglessness; nonsense; nonsensicality (a message that seems to convey no meaning)
Domain usage:
argot; cant; jargon; lingo; patois; slang; vernacular (a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves))
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Trick or deceive
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "humbug" is one way to...):
cozen; deceive; delude; lead on (be false to; be dishonest with)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Derivation:
humbug (something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage)
Context examples:
Now that, my child,” continued Miss Mowcher, rubbing all the time as busily as ever, “is another instance of the refreshing humbug I was speaking of. I do something in that way myself—perhaps a good deal—perhaps a little—sharp's the word, my dear boy—never mind!”
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
"Really," said the Scarecrow, "you ought to be ashamed of yourself for being such a humbug."
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
“Ha! ha! ha! What a refreshing set of humbugs we are, to be sure, ain't we, my sweet child?” replied that morsel of a woman, feeling in the bag with her head on one side and her eye in the air.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
You must keep my secret and tell no one I am a humbug.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
How can I help being a humbug, he said, when all these people make me do things that everybody knows can't be done?
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
"Exactly so!" declared the little man, rubbing his hands together as if it pleased him. "I am a humbug."
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
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