as in tricking
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in fooling
Related Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoodwinking
Verb
-
James cuts back inside onto his right foot, fooling the defender, rather than going to the byline off his left foot.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2025 -
Each plays a role in fooling their foe, who captures the turtle, while the deer, heeding the turtle’s good counsel, manages a sly escape.—
John Nemec,
The Conversation,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Just a guess here: This may have been something of a ruse by the Padres.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Aug. 2025
-
The then-officer's role was to show up in his scout car to legitimize the eviction ruse, authorities said.—
Violet Ikonomova,
Freep.com,
16 July 2025
Verb
-
The show, hosted by actor Alan Cumming and set in a remote Scottish castle, features reality TV veterans and celebrities working together—and often deceiving each other—in challenges for a cash prize.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Apr. 2025
-
Augusta National will quickly expose even the most microscopic weakness in one’s game with its winding fairways and deceiving putting surfaces.—
Gabby Herzig,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
That phonetic play alone already signals one of the project’s theoretical subterfuges: that of exploring the most advanced conditions of the subject’s annihilation as a foundational precondition for artistic authority.—
Benjamin H. D. Buchloh,
Artforum,
1 June 2025
-
An especially Jewish theme in the seventeenth century was not only the necessity but the dignity of subterfuge; to have lived in the shadows of another people’s empire had a nobility of its own, captured in this exquisite and ambivalent image.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
19 July 2025
Noun
-
The deception here is the notion that these four men are playing against one another, cards or dice or some type of game.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
-
Clown references imply the fans are in on Swift's schemes, here for the deception and recognize the serious undertones beneath the singer's stage makeup.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Michigan had dropped four of its last six games, but mustered enough trickery and belief to keep pace that day and finally, enough gall to try a 2-point conversion that could clinch the game.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
7 Aug. 2025
-
In the span of a few quarters, impersonation has graduated from trickery to full-spectrum mimicry.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
31 July 2025
Noun
-
For people like Soriano, however, the elections are about more than political stratagem and determining which family holds the most nominal power.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
13 May 2025
-
The scene is straight out of a stratagem by Pier Paolo Pasolini (Bertolucci’s mentor), but Palud takes it literally without applying comparable ideological critique to the rest of her film.—
Armond White,
National Review,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Gi-seok had been caught up in the delicate web of power and deceit that holds Seoul’s two major gangs—the Juwoon Group and the Bongsan Group—in place.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
6 June 2025
-
What begins as a convenient living arrangement spirals into a dangerous game of desire and deceit.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
21 July 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Hoodwinking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoodwinking. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share