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
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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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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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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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as in nuts
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
a lot of humbuggery about a mean old witch that lives in the woods
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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
Verb
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Don’t be fooled by its cheery name: Happy Face looks haunting.—
Claire Franken,
TVLine,
27 Jan. 2025
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In other words, an attacker would need to fool all or nearly all nodes to remain hidden—which quickly becomes infeasible as more light nodes join.—
Ayush Gupta,
Forbes,
24 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Hackers also insert malware-laden files into chat threads, tricking users into downloading DLL files that enable system takeover.—
Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report,
Fox News,
10 Feb. 2025
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In February 2024, a woman who was tricked by a computer support scheme that mimicked Microsoft customer support, transferred around $550,000 to the suspects in two wire transfers.—
Staff report,
Hartford Courant,
8 Feb. 2025
Verb
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned that the texts appear authentic, sometimes linking to legitimate websites to deceive consumers.—
Barbara A. Perry,
Newsweek,
28 Jan. 2025
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Prosecutors said the counterfeit security seals used to deceive customs officials were also shipped to the U.S. from China.—
Tony Barboza,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near humbug
Cite this Entry
“Humbug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humbug. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.
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