hornswoggle
Verb
- deprive of by deceit
- To deceive or trick.
Noun
- nonsense; humbug
Examples
- Don't let them hornswoggle you into buying anything you don't need.
Origin / Etymology
Unknown, 1829 US, jocular coinage like contemporary absquatulate. Presumably horns + waggle with humorous faux ablaut or combination with wobble (compare later woggle, 1923), perhaps inspired by lassoed steers trying to escape by moving their head.
Synonyms
bunco, con, defraud, diddle, gip, goldbrick, gyp, mulct, nobble, rook, scam, short-change, swindle, victimize, deceive, dupe, trick
Scrabble Score: 19
hornswoggle: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordhornswoggle: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
hornswoggle: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary