hornswoggle

horn·swog·gle
H4O1R1N1S1W4O1G2G2L1E1
UK/ˈhɔːn.swɒɡ.əl/US/ˈhɔɹn.swɑ.ɡəl/

verb

To deceive or trick.

“Don't let them hornswoggle you into buying anything you don't need.”

Similar
deceivedupetrickvictimizeswindlerookgoldbricknobble
Scrabble 19
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbhornswoggle (third-person singular simple present hornswoggles, present participle hornswoggling, simple past and past participle hornswoggled)

present singular third person hornswoggles · participle present hornswoggling · participle past hornswoggled · past hornswoggled

  1. slangtransitiveTo deceive or trick.

    Don't let them hornswoggle you into buying anything you don't need.

    Synonyms: deceive, dupe, trick

noun
  1. slangnonsense; humbug

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo deceive or trick.

Similar
deceivedupetrick

More synonyms by meaning

verbdeprive of by deceit

Similar
victimizeswindlerookgoldbricknobblediddlebuncodefraudscammulctshort-changecon
Broader
cheatrip offchisel
Also see
buncocondefrauddiddlegoldbrickmulctnobblerookscamswindlevictimize

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

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.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech napálit
  • napálitto deceive or trick
Finnish puijata
  • puijatato deceive or trick
Italian buggerare
  • buggerareto deceive or trick
Russian одура́чить
  • одура́чить (oduráčitʹ)to deceive or trick
Scottish Gaelic meall
  • meallto deceive or trick
Cite this entry
APA

hornswoggle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hornswoggle

MLA

“hornswoggle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hornswoggle. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hornswoggle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hornswoggle.

Source: hornswoggle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.