Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To deceive or dupe; hoodwink. synonym: deceive.
  • transitive verb To confuse; bewilder.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To hoax; deceive; trick; impose upon.
  • To perplex; mystify.
  • To use trickery; practise cheating.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb colloq. To deceive by trickery; to cajole by confusing the senses; to hoax; to mystify; to humbug.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb informal To con, defraud, trick, to make a fool of, to humbug or impose on someone.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb conceal one's true motives from especially by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

18th century. Unknown.

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Examples

Comments

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  • to confuse a panda

    February 20, 2007

  • Makes me think of Friends - Joey is hosting a gameshow by this name... "Sorry, you've been... BAMBOOZLED."

    February 23, 2007

  • Any word that starts with bam is alright in my book. Reminds me of the Flintstones' kid, Bamm-Bamm.

    Hmm... perhaps an idea for another list? Anyone? After the -tory mess I sure as heck ain't touching it.

    February 23, 2007

  • "Look here, friend," said I, "if you have anything important to tell us, out with it; but if you are only trying to bamboozle us, you are mistaken in your game..."

    - Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 19

    July 24, 2008

  • I love this word - it's quite popular on the Indian subcontinent apparently.

    September 18, 2008