Hornswoggle Definition

hôrnswŏgəl
hornswoggled, hornswoggles, hornswoggling
verb
hornswoggled, hornswoggling
To swindle or hoax; trick.
Webster's New World
To bamboozle; deceive.
American Heritage

To deceive or trick.

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

Origin of Hornswoggle

  • 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.

    From Wiktionary

  • Origin unknown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to hornswoggle using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

hornswoggle