as in fooling
Related Words
Relevance
as in tricking
to cause to believe what is untrue
Tom Sawyer famously hoodwinked the other boys into thinking there was nothing more enjoyable than whitewashing a fence
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hoodwinking
David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
Verb
Stadiums are notorious for their lack of multiplier impact, which is one reason these days why sports team owners, such as the McCaskey family that controls the Bears, have such a hard time hoodwinking governments into giving them direct subsidies to build their stadiums.
—David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoodwinking
Noun
-
No fooling, April brings some pretty interesting surprises on Netflix.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Anchoring, scarcity and choice architecture aren’t about tricking people.—
David Meade,
Forbes.com,
14 May 2026
-
The church hosts sure love tricking us into eating raw broccoli by serving it up in this creamy pasta salad.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
13 May 2026
Noun
-
They are accused of using several ruses to force their way into people’s homes, assaulting unsuspecting residents and holding them hostage for their own money, and demanding access to their crypto accounts.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
-
To sustain her ruse, Suzanne discovers volumes of diaries written by the painter’s late wife.—
Ben Croll,
IndieWire,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
He was also accused of deceiving escrow agents to secure the release of pre-construction condominium deposits and then misappropriated those funds for personal expenses unrelated to the developments.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
15 May 2026
-
Donovan Mitchell, whose box score of 21 points was deceiving, dribbled aimlessly while being hounded by Detroit defenders until his weak shot attempt was easily knocked away by Ausar Thompson before time expired.—
Joe Vardon,
New York Times,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
Skip the subterfuge as the sun and Mercury harmonize.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
14 May 2026
-
Whether those suspicions were valid or a result of subterfuge by Connelly, the Nuggets ultimately traded up six spots to draft Holmes, sacrificing three future second-round picks.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Widespread deception was rampant, with businesses spending far more on green marketing than on actual sustainability improvements.—
Suvrat Dhanorkar,
The Conversation,
18 May 2026
-
That, along with the angle of his arm—his arm slot, in baseball terms—adds another layer of deception.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
17 May 2026
Noun
-
But those movies, in different ways, were about trickery and deceit, about drawing the audience into a head game of perception.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
14 May 2026
-
That was about trickery in a tight situation.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Photograph by Glen Wilson / Lionsgate Fuqua’s low-key approach is both a natural expression of his personality and a shrewd stratagem to reassure people around him that everything is under control.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
There are some other fun stats in there, including a ranking of the game's most popular stratagems.—
Ian Stokes,
Space.com,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hoodwinking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoodwinking. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
