bamboozle

bamboozle
\ \ [18] Bamboozle is a mystery word.
\ \ It first appears in 1703, in the writings of the dramatist Colly Cibber, and seven years later it was one of a list of the latest buzzwords cited by Jonathan Swift in the Tatler (others included bully, mob, and sham). It is probably a ‘cant’ term (a sort of low-life argot), and may perhaps be of Scottish origin; there was a 17th-century Scottish verb bombazeperplex’, which may be the same word as bombace, literally ‘padding, stuffing’, but metaphorically ‘inflated language’ (the variant form bombast has survived into modern English).
\ \ Cf.BOMBAST

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Bamboozle — Bam*boo zle (b[a^]m*b[=oo] z l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Bamboozled} (b[a^]m*b[=oo] z ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Bamboozling} (b[a^]m*b[=oo] zl[i^]ng).] [Said to be of Gipsy origin.] To deceive by trickery; to cajole by confusing the senses; to hoax; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bamboozle — index bait (lure), betray (lead astray), bilk, ensnare, inveigle Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton …   Law dictionary

  • bamboozle — (v.) 1703, originally a slang or cant word, perhaps Scottish from bombaze perplex, related to bombast, or Fr. embabouiner to make a fool (lit. baboon ) of. Related: Bamboozled; bamboozling. As a noun from 1703 …   Etymology dictionary

  • bamboozle — trick, hoodwink, *dupe, gull, hoax, befool Analogous words: delude, *deceive, beguile, mislead: outwit, circumvent (see FRUSTRATE): defraud, cozen, overreach, *cheat, swindle …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • bamboozle — [v] fool; cheat baffle, befuddle, bilk, con, confound, confuse, deceive, defraud, delude, dupe, flimflam*, hoax, hoodwink*, hornswoggle*, mystify, perplex, puzzle, stump, swindle, trick; concept 59 Ant. be honest …   New thesaurus

  • bamboozle — ► VERB informal 1) cheat or deceive. 2) confuse. ORIGIN of unknown origin …   English terms dictionary

  • bamboozle — [bam bo͞o′zəl] vt. bamboozled, bamboozling [c. 1700; cant form: < ?] 1. to deceive or cheat by trickery; dupe 2. to confuse or puzzle bamboozlement n. bamboozler n …   English World dictionary

  • Bamboozle — For the music festival, see The Bamboozle. For the film, see Bamboozled. Bamboozle is a quiz game featured on Channel 4 Teletext in the United Kingdom. It was originally part of Teletext s Fun Games category, but the rest of the category has been …   Wikipedia

  • bamboozle — v. (colloq.) ( to trick ) 1) (D; tr.) to bamboozle into 2) to bamboozle out of * * * [bæm buːz(ə)l] (colloq.) ( to trick ) (D; tr.) to bamboozle into to bamboozle out of …   Combinatory dictionary

  • bamboozle — UK [bæmˈbuːz(ə)l] / US [bæmˈbuz(ə)l] verb [transitive] Word forms bamboozle : present tense I/you/we/they bamboozle he/she/it bamboozles present participle bamboozling past tense bamboozled past participle bamboozled informal to trick someone or… …   English dictionary

  • bamboozle — [18] Bamboozle is a mystery word. It first appears in 1703, in the writings of the dramatist Colly Cibber, and seven years later it was one of a list of the latest buzzwords cited by Jonathan Swift in the Tatler (others included bully, mob, and… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

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