humbug

[huhm-buhg]

See more synonyms for humbug on Thesaurus.com

noun

something intended to delude or deceive.
the quality of falseness or deception.
a person who is not what he or she claims or pretends to be; impostor.

something devoid of sense or meaning; nonsense: a humbug of technical jargon.
British. a variety of hard mint candy.

verb (used with object), hum·bugged, hum·bug·ging.

to impose upon by humbug or false pretense; delude; deceive.

verb (used without object), hum·bugged, hum·bug·ging.

to practice humbug.

interjection

(used as an expletive to express rejection of something as being completely untrue or nonsensical.)

Origin of humbug

First recorded in 1730–40; origin uncertain

Related formshum·bug·ger, noun

Synonyms for humbug

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1. imposition. 2. pretense, sham. 3. pretender, deceiver, charlatan, swindler, quack, confidence man. 6. cheat, swindle, trick, fool, dupe.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for humbug

hogwash, silliness, babble, bunk, bull, hooey, drivel, poppycock, rubbish, baloney, balderdash, gibberish, trash, pretense, BS, prank, fraud, scam, sting, flimflam

Examples from the Web for humbug

Contemporary Examples of humbug

No one outside Limbaughland or Trumpville, Potemkin villages where no one will vote for Obama anyway, credited the humbug.
Robert Shrum on the Vice Presidential Debate: Biden’s Win Was a Big F@$&ing Deal
Robert Shrum
October 12, 2012

Historical Examples of humbug

Mrs M. is a humbug—not a drop of information can I get for love or money.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
The family is in that, as in so many other respects, a humbug.
A Treatise on Parents and Children
George Bernard Shaw
You'll find out what a humbug he is by and by, Mrs. Bartlett.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
You know that is not a humbug; you know He has heard you when you knelt down and prayed.
Tip Lewis and His Lamp
Pansy
We must have humbug, we all like humbug, we couldn't get on without humbug.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for humbug

humbug

noun

a person or thing that tricks or deceives
nonsense; rubbish
British a hard boiled sweet, usually flavoured with peppermint and often having a striped pattern

verb -bugs, -bugging or -bugged

to cheat or deceive (someone)

Derived Formshumbugger, nounhumbuggery, noun

Word Origin for humbug

C18: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for humbug

1751, student slang, "trick, jest, hoax, deception," also as a verb, of unknown origin. A vogue word of the early 1750s; its origin was a subject of much whimsical speculation even then.