humbug

humbug

noun

Definition of HUMBUG

1

an imitation that is passed off as genuine <tests showed that the “old” map of America was a cleverly made humbug>

Synonyms counterfeit, forgery, hoax, humbug, phony (also phoney), sham

Related Words copycat, knockoff; copy, facsimile, replica, reproduction; dummy, mock-up; fraud, gaff, imposture, spoof, swindle; simulation, synthetic; bastard, brummagem, duffer, shoddy

Near Antonyms original

2

language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense <those UFO stories are a lot of humbug>

Synonyms applesauce [slang], balderdash, baloney (also boloney), beans, bilge, blah (also blah-blah), blarney, blather, blatherskite, blither, bosh, bull [slang], bunk, bunkum (or buncombe), claptrap, codswallop [British], crapola [slang], crock, drivel, drool, fiddle, fiddle-faddle, fiddlesticks, flannel [British], flapdoodle, folderol (also falderal), folly, foolishness, fudge, garbage, guff, hogwash, hokeypokey, hokum, hoodoo, hooey, horsefeathers [slang], humbug, humbuggery, jazz, malarkey (also malarky), moonshine, muck, nerts [slang], nuts, piffle, poppycock, punk, rot, rubbish, senselessness, silliness, slush, stupidity, taradiddle (or tarradiddle), tommyrot, tosh, trash, trumpery, twaddle

Related Words absurdity, asininity, fatuity, foolery, idiocy, imbecility, inaneness, inanity, insanity, kookiness, lunacy; absurdness, craziness, madness, senselessness, witlessness; hoity-toity, monkey business, monkeyshine(s), shenanigan(s), tomfoolery; gas, hot air, rigmarole (also rigamarole); double-talk, greek, hocus-pocus

Near Antonyms levelheadedness, rationality, reasonability, reasonableness, sensibleness; common sense, horse sense, sense; discernment, judgment (or judgement), wisdom

3

one who makes false claims of identity or expertise <one humbug after another claimed to be the miraculously surviving daughter of the Russian czar>

Synonyms charlatan, fake, faker, fakir, fraud, hoaxer, humbug, mountebank, phony (also phoney), pretender, quack, quacksalver, ringer, sham

Related Words copycat, imitator, impersonator, mimic; actor, bluffer, counterfeiter, deceiver, dissembler, duper, feigner, misleader, operator, trickster; poseur; cozener, defrauder, dodger, fraudster [chiefly British], scammer, scamster, sharper, sharpie (or sharpy), skinner, swindler

Near Antonyms ace, adept, authority, crackerjack (also crackajack), expert, maestro, master, past master, professional, virtuoso, whiz, wizard