sell someone a bill of goods

verb

To deceive or cheat someone.

Similar
misinform
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Meanings

verbsell someone a bill of goods (third-person singular simple present sells someone a bill of goods, present participle selling someone a bill of goods, simple past and past participle sold someone a bill of goods)

present singular third person sells someone a bill of goods · participle present selling someone a bill of goods · participle past sold someone a bill of goods · past sold someone a bill of goods

  1. idiomaticTo deceive or cheat someone.

    "He showed no knowledge of his subject," McCarran told newsmen. ". . . Someone must have sold him a bill of goods."

    1953 June 16, “McCarran Raps Ike Speech at Dartmouth”, in Rome News-Tribune, US, retrieved 21 Jun 2009, page 3
    1 more example

    Bill O'Reilly, of the Fox News Channel, has called on the President to admit that the CIA sold him a bill of goods and to fire the agency's director.

    2004 February 9, John Cassidy, “Blame Game: Intelligence Services and the Iraq War”, in New Yorker

    Synonyms: misinform

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo deceive or cheat someone.

Similar
misinform
Cite this entry
APA

sell someone a bill of goods. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sell%20someone%20a%20bill%20of%20goods

MLA

“sell someone a bill of goods.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sell%20someone%20a%20bill%20of%20goods. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sell someone a bill of goods,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sell%20someone%20a%20bill%20of%20goods.

Source: sell someone a bill of goods on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.