Meaning & use
hoodwink
Last updated
UK/ˈhʊd.wɪŋk/
US/ˈhʊd.wɪŋk/
Meaning
verbtransitiveold-fashioned
To fool someone by a clever trick so that they believe something false.
Grammar: Takes an object, often followed by into: hoodwink someone into doing something.
Patterns
- hoodwink someone
- hoodwink someone into something
The salesman hoodwinked her into buying a useless warranty.
Voters felt they had been hoodwinked by the campaign.
Don't let anyone hoodwink you with promises of quick money.
Word forms
| third person singular | hoodwinks |
|---|---|
| past tense | hoodwinked |
| past participle | hoodwinked |
| -ing form | hoodwinking |
Common combinations
- hoodwink the public
- The ads tried to hoodwink the public.
- hoodwink investors
- He hoodwinked investors with fake accounts.
- easily hoodwinked
- The old woman was easily hoodwinked.
- hoodwink someone into
- They hoodwinked him into signing the contract.
- be hoodwinked by
- We were hoodwinked by a clever scam.
Synonyms and how they differ
- deceive
- Deceive is neutral and serious, while hoodwink sounds a little playful and old-fashioned.
- trick
- Trick is simpler and can be harmless, as with a magic trick.
- dupe
- Dupe stresses that the victim was gullible.
- swindle
- Swindle means cheating someone out of money.
Opposites
Word family
- hoodwinker noun
- a person who tricks others
- hoodwinked adjective
- fooled by a trick
- wink noun
- a brief closing of one eye
- hood noun
- a covering for the head
Commonly confused: hoodwink or winking?
hoodwink vs winking
Winking is closing one eye briefly, which is unrelated to deceiving.
Practice
Which sentence uses hoodwink correctly?
Choose one answer.
Hoodwink means to deceive, which suits the con artist. The others misuse it as a physical action.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hoodwink”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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