hoodwink
verb
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We usually use the word wink to refer to a brief shutting of one eye, but hoodwink draws on an older and more obscure meaning of wink covered in our Unabridged Dictionary: “to close one’s eyes.” To hoodwink someone originally was to effectively do that kind of winking for the person; it meant to “cover someone’s eyes,” as with a hood or a blindfold. This 16th-century term soon came to be used figuratively for veiling the truth. “The public ... is as easily hood-winked,” wrote the Irish physician Charles Lucas in 1756, by which time the figurative use had been around for decades—and today, that meaning of the word is far from winking out.
Synonyms
Examples of hoodwink in a Sentence
Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024
Charismatic leaders hoodwink highly intelligent, creative people, too.
—David Oliver, USA TODAY, 31 Oct. 2024
There were also those who despised the film on sight, who felt hoodwinked by the buzz that had built around its seasick camerawork and unwashed stars shouting at each other and dripping snot on the lens.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 30 July 2024
Haider staged a fake murder in an apparent effort to hoodwink Abbas and his bosses.
—Renee Maltezou, Cassell Bryan-Low, Yannis Souliotis and Phil Stewart, USA TODAY, 6 Oct. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near hoodwink
Cite this Entry
“Hoodwink.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoodwink. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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hoodwink
verb
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