cozen

1 to cause to believe what is untrue cozened several elderly ladies into believing that he was intending marriage Synonyms bamboozle, beguile, bluff, buffalo, burn, catch, con, deceive, delude, dupe, fake out, fool, gaff, gammon, gull, have, have on [chiefly British], hoax, hoodwink, hornswoggle, humbug, juggle, misguide, misinform, mislead, snooker, snow, spoof, string along, sucker, suck in, take in, trickRelated Words kid, put on, tease; bleed, cheat, chisel, defraud, diddle, euchre, flam, fleece, gyp, hustle, mulct, rook, shortchange, skin, squeeze, stick, sting, swindleNear Antonyms debunk, expose, reveal, show up, uncloak, uncover, unmask; disclose, divulge, tell, unveil; disabuse, disenchant, disillusionAntonyms undeceive

2 to rob by the use of trickery or threats cozened scores of people by persuading them to hand over funds that he would “invest” Synonyms beat, bilk, bleed, cheat, chisel, chouse, con, fleece, defraud, diddle, do, do in, euchre, fiddle, flimflam, gaff, gyp, hose [slang], hustle, mulct, nobble [British slang], pluck, ream, rip off, rook, screw, shake down, short, shortchange, skin, skunk, squeeze, stick, stiff, sting, sucker, swindle, thimblerig, victimizeRelated Words extort, wrench, wrest, wring; clip, gouge, nick, overcharge, soak; exploit, milk; deceive, dupe, fool, gull, trick; rope (in); betray, bitch, double-cross; bamboozle, fast-talk