as in frauds
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
one humbug after another claimed to be the miraculously surviving daughter of the Russian czar
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in fools
to cause to believe what is untrue
humbugged into believing that the bones were the skeleton of a prehistoric human being
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of humbugs
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Nov. 2025
Noun
San Diego theaters have lined up a bounty of seasonal stage shows designed to delight even the biggest humbugs.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for humbugs
Noun
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Once recruited, victims were allegedly forced to conduct romance scams, fake cryptocurrency investment schemes and other online frauds targeting victims abroad.—
Dylan Butts,
CNBC,
16 Feb. 2026
-
The frauds have grown nearly in lockstep with the growth of the industry.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
11 Jan. 2026
Verb
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What fools these non-OpenAI mortals must be.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
15 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In a world where there are more and more deep fakes and questions about what content represents, this project – and football itself – taps into something real.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2026
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The overwhelming motive for the early fakes was to provide entertainment — about three-quarters of the images in the exhibition were created for this purpose, Rooseboom said.—
Lianne Kolirin,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Wasps are territorial, so hanging a fake nest near a problem area tricks them into thinking another colony has already claimed the space.—
Nicole Letts,
Southern Living,
25 Feb. 2026
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One of the dangers of the Midwestern climate is a late-winter warm spell that thaws the soil and tricks bulbs and other plants into sprouting too early.—
Beth Botts,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The package includes a quilt and two pillow shams.—
Abigail Wilt,
Southern Living,
19 Feb. 2026
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Ralph Lauren’s Valeria Euro shams are a welcome contrast to the light and airy bedding seen elsewhere on this list.—
Shoko Wanger,
Architectural Digest,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In a statement issued Friday, the commission accused X of using its 'blue checkmark' in a way that deceives users.—
Mary Cunningham,
CBS News,
5 Dec. 2025
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The fragmentary Ni 12501 tablet from the Early Dynastic III period of Mesopotamia breaks off when Fox deceives the inhabitants of the netherworld in his quest to retrieve the storm god Ishkur.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Cult of the Beaver has to fend off pretenders.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
13 Jan. 2026
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Momentum hardens, vulnerabilities are exposed and the gap between contenders and pretenders is out in the open.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Carl Sagan's baloney detection kit taught us how to separate good science from the work of charlatans.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
10 Feb. 2026
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First up was Ben Shapiro, who described Tucker Carlson and others as grifters and charlatans, guilty of misleading their audiences with falsehoods and conspiracy theories.—
Jonathan J. Cooper,
Fortune,
19 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Humbugs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humbugs. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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