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
Both lawsuits argue that the news outlets deliberately hoodwinked the public, in violation of state consumer protection laws.
—
New York Times, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2025
Haider staged a fake murder in an apparent effort to hoodwink Abbas and his bosses.
—Renee Maltezou, Cassell Bryan-Low, Yannis Souliotis and Phil Stewart, USA TODAY, 6 Oct. 2024
Many individuals and companies don’t report after they’ve been hoodwinked.
—Frank Teruel, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
But the season finale truly opened eyes — and its universe — when scrappy dirtbag Eleanor (Kristen Bell) deduced that the avuncular architect guide had hoodwinked them all and that the Good Place was actually...the Bad Place.
—EW.com, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hoodwink
New York Times, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2025
Haider staged a fake murder in an apparent effort to hoodwink Abbas and his bosses.
—Renee Maltezou, Cassell Bryan-Low, Yannis Souliotis and Phil Stewart, USA TODAY, 6 Oct. 2024
Many individuals and companies don’t report after they’ve been hoodwinked.
—Frank Teruel, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
But the season finale truly opened eyes — and its universe — when scrappy dirtbag Eleanor (Kristen Bell) deduced that the avuncular architect guide had hoodwinked them all and that the Good Place was actually...the Bad Place.
—EW.com, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hoodwink
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoodwink
Verb
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The person is not trying to deceive or control, but the behavior still affects others and requires self awareness and growth to correct.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
27 June 2025
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Where was this sense of urgency when the mullahs were attempting to deceive U.N. inspectors while sandbagging U.S. efforts to diplomatically scuttle the country’s nuclear efforts?—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
21 June 2025
Verb
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Even though baby clothes and newborn diapers feel too tiny to wreak havoc, don’t be fooled!—
Briana Feigon,
Architectural Digest,
19 June 2025
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Perhaps that’s what fans were griping about last year — that Burns didn’t have it anymore and Slavin was papering over all those issues, enough to fool this model.—
Dom Luszczyszyn,
New York Times,
18 June 2025
Verb
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That was the crux of the latest Gmail attack, tricking users into sharing codes.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
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But rather than trying to trick users into heading to a fake website, the visitor is instead taken to the brand's legitimate website, with a small but dangerous difference.—
Will McCurdy,
PC Magazine,
21 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hoodwink.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoodwink. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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