humbugged

verb

past tense of humbug
as in deceived
to cause to believe what is untrue humbugged into believing that the bones were the skeleton of a prehistoric human being

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for humbugged
  1. deceived
  2. tricked
  3. fooled
Verb
  • Some veterans say recruiters deceived them and Haitian authorities tortured them; their families call them scapegoats.
    — Astrid Suárez, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Some of the Colombians have long maintained that they were deceived about the mission and arrived at the home after Moïse had already been killed.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of deceived
Verb
  • Aguilar alleged that officers tricked her mother, who only speaks Spanish, into letting them in without giving her a chance to secure Kush.
    — Amy Corral, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In 2022, internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare also said that the use of security keys had foiled a phishing attempt that tricked a few employees into entering their passwords into a fake login form.
    — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of tricked
Verb
  • Don’t be fooled by the big numbers that these guys throw around in their ballots.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Despite all the criticism that has pummeled the club since it was found guilty of over 100 charges relating to financial breaches, you could be fooled into thinking nothing was wrong.
    — Ben Church, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of fooled
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.

Browse Nearby Words

humbug
humbugged
humbuggery
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Humbugged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humbugged. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of syncretic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All