humbug
/'hʌmbʌg/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- Deceptive trickery: Something intended to deceive or trick someone, often for personal gain.
- Deceptive communication: Spoken or written statements that are deliberately misleading or false.
- Nonsensical or pretentious talk: Silly, empty, or pompous language that lacks substance or truth.
- (Archaic) A type of candy: A hard, striped peppermint-flavored candy.
Verb:
- To deceive or trick: To deliberately mislead someone through lies or dishonest actions.
Examples of Usage
Noun:
- His claim of being a prince was soon exposed as pure humbug.
- The politician's speech was full of empty humbug.
- She offered him a humbug from the jar.
Verb:
- The con artist tried to humbug the elderly couple out of their savings.
- Don't let him humbug you into believing his wild stories.
Advanced Usage
- "Bah, humbug!": A famous exclamation of disgust or cynicism, popularized by Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens's . It expresses contempt for festive sentiment, often implying it is fake or hypocritical.
- When asked for a donation, the miser just grumbled, "Bah, humbug!"
Variants and Related Words
- Humbuggery (noun): The practice of deception or trickery.
- The industry was rife with fraud and humbuggery.
Synonyms
- Noun: Deception, fraud, hoax, imposture, nonsense, balderdash, bunk.
- Verb: Deceive, dupe, hoodwink, bamboozle, swindle.
Related Phrases
- To be a humbug: To be a person who is a fraud or impostor.
- The self-proclaimed guru turned out to be a complete humbug.
Idioms
- Bah, humbug!: An expression of cynical rejection, especially of cheerful Christmas traditions.
- "Christmas is a waste of money." "Oh, don't be such a Scrooge with your 'bah, humbug'!"
Noun
- something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage
- communication (written or spoken) intended to deceive
- pretentious or silly talk or writing
Verb
- trick or deceive