as in to deceive
to cause to believe what is untrue
Tom Sawyer famously hoodwinked the other boys into thinking there was nothing more enjoyable than whitewashing a fence
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Recent Examples of hoodwink
That rowdy group is out to swindle and hoodwink rich guys.
—
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Even as the Deliriant and his pint-size accomplice attempt to hoodwink a monster, they’re left to wonder, poignantly, if anything in their duplicitous world is real.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2025
Reps for Young and Baez declined to comment, much like reps for Bob Dylan, Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen, and others who have passed on making statements about AI imagery that’s hoodwinked whatever percentage of their fan bases.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025
Slow Horses is a twisty show, but the assumption that Roddy had been hoodwinked by a glamorous woman far out of his league seemed about as safe a bet as possible.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hoodwink
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Even as the Deliriant and his pint-size accomplice attempt to hoodwink a monster, they’re left to wonder, poignantly, if anything in their duplicitous world is real.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2025
Reps for Young and Baez declined to comment, much like reps for Bob Dylan, Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen, and others who have passed on making statements about AI imagery that’s hoodwinked whatever percentage of their fan bases.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025
Slow Horses is a twisty show, but the assumption that Roddy had been hoodwinked by a glamorous woman far out of his league seemed about as safe a bet as possible.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hoodwink
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoodwink
Verb
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The firm says it was deceived again in June 2022, when IQHQ restructured and moved investor interests into a Delaware limited partnership structure.—
Jennifer Van Grove,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
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Memento has withstood the test of time, thanks to memorable performances, intricately layered storytelling, and what the film ultimately reveals about our all-too-human willingness to deceive ourselves in order to escape unpleasant truths.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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And last month, the FBI announced that individuals associated with Russian intelligence were posing as Signal’s security department to fool American government officials and journalists into providing information that would allow the hackers to take over their accounts.—
Robert Faturechi,
ProPublica,
11 Apr. 2026
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Many a hunter has been fooled into giving up too soon.—
Bruce Brady,
Outdoor Life,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Don’t let Sewanee, Tennessee’s, tiny size trick you into dismissing it.—
Jennifer Stewart Kornegay,
Southern Living,
9 Apr. 2026
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But in the end, the gang manages to trick Soldier Boy into going for an empty tube while Frenchie dons a gas mask and pours out the virus.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hoodwink.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoodwink. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
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