1
as in hoax
an imitation that is passed off as genuine
tests showed that the "old" map of America was a cleverly made humbug
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
those UFO stories are a lot of humbug
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in fraud
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
one humbug after another claimed to be the miraculously surviving daughter of the Russian czar
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to fool
to cause to believe what is untrue
humbugged into believing that the bones were the skeleton of a prehistoric human being
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of humbug
IEEE Spectrum, 16 Jan. 2024
Mean One features David Howard Thornton, known for playing Art the Clown in the Terrifier movies, as a familiar-looking green-skinned humbug in a Santa suit, living on a mountain high above the small town town of Newville.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 July 2023
Elizabeth Wolfe and Douglas S. Wood, CNN, 21 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for humbug
Noun
Well then, the author cannot be blamed for what might be called the worldwide humbug over the robots.
—IEEE Spectrum, 16 Jan. 2024
Mean One features David Howard Thornton, known for playing Art the Clown in the Terrifier movies, as a familiar-looking green-skinned humbug in a Santa suit, living on a mountain high above the small town town of Newville.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 July 2023
Verb
In its verb form, to be humbugged is to be deceived or be the victim of a hoax.
—Elizabeth Wolfe and Douglas S. Wood, CNN, 21 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for humbug
Recent Examples of Synonyms for humbug
Noun
-
Dwight Gooden, who was the rookie of the year in 1984, thought the hoax was real at first.—
New York Daily News,
New York Daily News,
29 Mar. 2025
-
In reality, the book and the article were the twin prongs of an elaborate hoax — but an important and influential one, Tinline explains in this entertaining history, with reverberations that have lasted into the present era of QAnon and Deep State conspiracy theories.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
But when real users interact with it, the system collapses, generating nonsense or failing to handle inputs that deviate from the demo script.—
Albert Lie,
Forbes.com,
4 Apr. 2025
-
Slapping down Putin should mean something, but that pronouncement, like everything Trump utters, is undercut by him spouting nonsense, including about a third term, which his press secretary laughed off yesterday.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The panel also agreed Way acted with malice, oppression or fraud, and awarded her another $250,000 in punitive damages.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Robinson faces five felonies: concealment of a death, identity theft, two counts of financial card theft, financial card fraud and car theft.—
Julia Coin,
Charlotte Observer,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
But don't let the name fool you, Murderbot isn't actually the frightening story of a dangerous security robot.—
Shania Russell,
EW.com,
9 Apr. 2025
-
Then, as if anyone was fooled, the talk show host pulled off his hat, wig and snap-on nose and lip piercings and Sheeran pulled of his wig to reveal his signature carrot top to shouts of joy.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Others have used the counterfeits from East Asia to take advantage of Apple by sending in counterfeit phones that couldn't be repaired in order to induce the company to replace the counterfeits with genuine iPhones, Apple isn't the only one plagued by fraudsters.—
Michael Loria,
USA TODAY,
16 Jan. 2025
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Cases of counterfeits have been rare, but with prices rising into the six- and seven-figure range, obtaining that certified guarantee is important.—
Rob Salkowitz,
Forbes,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The property also grows its own herbs, greens, nuts, berries, and edible flowers.—
Bianca Salonga,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
-
Focus on whole foods like fruits, leafy green vegetables, fatty fish, nuts, and seeds.—
Lindsay Curtis,
Health,
5 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The votes were widely viewed as a sham and heavily criticized by the US at the time as well as by allies in Europe.—
Anna Chernova,
CNN,
24 Mar. 2025
-
Six elections since have been widely dismissed as shams that concealed rising discontent.—
Nataliya Vasilyeva,
New York Times,
25 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
The Big Cat turned the tables on all those trolls for April Fool's Day and tricked plenty of them.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2025
-
For example, Russian operatives reportedly tricked Ukrainian troops into giving access to their Signal accounts.—
Frederick Scholl,
The Conversation,
27 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Humbug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humbug. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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