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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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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Examples 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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However, others have questioned how she was so easily fooled.Michael Gfoeller And David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 16 Jan. 2025
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The attackers disguise themselves as fake Google Ads login pages to fool advertisers, who are then phished for their account credentials.Davey Winder, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Other options include a rooftop deck with staircase, and a wood-burning stove, though tricking it out like this will of course increase the price significantly.Adam Williams, New Atlas, 7 Jan. 2025
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This means being aware of the tactics used by attackers to trick you into installing such backdoor code in the first place.Davey Winder, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
Verb
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And unless my eyes deceive me, the shine is turned up to 11 thanks to shimmer in her middle part.Marci Robin, Allure, 8 Jan. 2025
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These include data poisoning, where training datasets are manipulated to compromise models, and adversarial attacks, which involve subtle input changes to deceive AI systems.Piyush Ranjan, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near humbug
Cite this Entry
“Humbug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humbug. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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