humbugger

hum·bug·ger
H4U1M3B3U1G2G2E1R1
UK/ˈhʌmbʌɡə(ɹ)/US/ˈhəmˌbəɡɚ/

noun

One who humbugs; a cheat or swindler.

Scrabble 18

Meanings

nounhumbugger (plural humbuggers)

plural humbuggers

  1. datedOne who humbugs; a cheat or swindler.

    Here's a Humbugger come, / Will prove the reſt nothing at all, / 'Tis a Jobber, a Factor, / A damn'd Corn Contractor, / Who makes all our Loaves be ſo ſmall; […]

    1796, “The Nine Days Wonder! or the Humbug of Butcher Row. Sung by Mr. Dighton.”, in Songs, &c. in The Spirit of the Grotto. Or an Hour at Weybridge. A Musical Spectacle, as Performed at Sadler's Wells, [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 12
    1 more example

    Under theſe circumſtances the Humbugger attacks the man whom he has ſelected for his butt; and while he proſtitutes his own candour to the raiſing his good opinion of himſelf too high, he gives the ſignal to every body about him to laugh at him for a coxcomb for doing ſo.

    1772 November, “A Short Dissertation on the Modern Art of Humbugging”, in The Covent-Garden Magazine; or, Amorous Repository: Calculated Solely for the Entertainment of the Polite World, and the Finishing of a Young Gentleman's Education, volume I, London: Printed for the authors; and sold by G. Allen, No. 59, in Pater-noster Row, and all other booksellers in Great-Britain and Ireland, →OCLC, page 176

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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