bamboozle

/bæm'bu:zl/
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Thân thiện
bamboozle

The salesman tried to bamboozle the customer with a complicated contract.

Definition

Verb: 1. To deceive or trick someone, often through elaborate or confusing means: The core meaning involves deliberately misleading someone, typically by creating a false impression or using confusing tactics to achieve a personal goal. 2. To hoodwink or dupe: To make a fool of someone by deception.

Usage and Examples
  • Basic Usage: The verb is typically used with a direct object (the person being deceived).
    • The con artist bamboozled the elderly couple out of their life savings.
    • Don't let his fancy talk bamboozle you; the deal is not as good as it sounds.
  • Common Constructions:
    • to bamboozle someone
    • to bamboozle someone into doing something (to trick someone into a specific action)
      • He bamboozled his investors into providing more funds.
    • to bamboozle someone out of something (to cheat someone to obtain their possession)
      • They tried to bamboozle me out of my winning ticket.
Advanced Usage and Nuance
  • The word often carries a connotation of the deception being clever, elaborate, or involving a degree of showmanship or confusing complexity. It is less formal than "deceive" and can sometimes imply the victim was foolish or gullible for being tricked.
  • It can be used in a lighter, less malicious sense.
    • The magician completely bamboozled the audience with his incredible illusions.
Variants and Related Words
  • Bamboozlement (noun, informal): The act or an instance of bamboozling.
    • It was a clear case of financial bamboozlement.
Synonyms
  • Deceive: To cause someone to believe something that is not true.
  • Hoodwink: To deceive or trick.
  • Dupe: To deceive or trick someone who is naive or easily fooled.
  • Befuddle: To confuse, which can be a method of bamboozling.
  • Swindle: To cheat someone out of money or property.
Related Phrasal Verbs/Idioms
  • To pull the wool over someone's eyes: An idiom with a very similar meaning to "bamboozle," implying deception that prevents someone from seeing the truth.
    • He thought he could pull the wool over my eyes with that old excuse, but I wasn't bamboozled.
bamboozle

The salesman tried to bamboozle the customer with a complicated contract.

Verb
  1. conceal one's true motives from especially by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end
    • He bamboozled his professors into thinking that he knew the subject well

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