EN

Synonyms for humbug

  • noun
  • verb

Most common

hogwash hokum balderdash piffle fraud hoax non-sense quackery

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

1. Balderdash

balderdash, piffle, hokum, hogwash, bullshit, twaddle, malarkey informal, rubbish, baloney, drivel, blah, tosh, rigmarole, rigamarole US, bosh, fudge, stuff, prattle, bull, garbage US AU CA, tommy-rot, bologna, drool

2. Fraud — A fraud or sham; (uncountable) hypocrisy

fraud, hoax, charlatan, put-on informal, imposture, quack, sham, hypocrisy, swindle, trick, fake, deception, fraudulence, imposter, cheat, feint, dupery, delusion, deceit, pretender, imposition, mountebank

Other

quackery, clap-trap, non-sense, mumbo-jumbo, flap doodle, cant, snake oil, charlatanism, charlatanry, fol de rol

Verb

deceive, bamboozle informal, gull, diddle, gammon, cozen, delude, beguile, dupe, hood-wink, defraud, circumvent, overreach

Definitions

  1. n. 1

    A fraud or sham; (uncountable) hypocrisy.

  2. n. 2

    A hoax, jest, or prank.

  3. v. 1

    To play a trick on (someone), to cheat, to swindle, to deceive.

Forms

Plural
humbugs → hokums, hogwashes, twaddles, malarkeys…
Past participle
humbuged
e.g. humbuged → deceived, bamboozled, gulled, diddled…

Example sentences

  • hogwash I think that's a lot of hogwash.
  • fraud Academic fraud is more common than you might think.
  • hoax Does the president believe climate change is a hoax?

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
humbugsteady
hogwashsteady
hokumsteady
balderdashsteady
pifflerising
fraudrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters
fake1, bull1, cant1, blah1, hoax1, sham1, gull1, tosh1, bosh1, dupe1
5 letters
stuff1, trick1, fraud1, cheat1, fudge1, quack1, drool1, feint1, hokum2, cozen
6 letters
deceit2, drivel2, gammon2, delude2, diddle2, piffle, dupery
7 letters
garbage2, rubbish2, deceive2, bologna3, defraud2, swindle2, baloney3, hogwash2, prattle2, twaddle2, beguile2
8 letters
bullshit2, delusion3, imposter3, malarkey3, quackery3
9 letters
hypocrisy4, deception3, pretender3, charlatan3, overreach3, bamboozle, rigmarole, imposture
10 letters
imposition4, circumvent3, balderdash3, mountebank, rigamarole
11 letters
fraudulence, charlatanry
12 letters
charlatanism

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (hokum2 = 2 syllables).