Meaning & use
humbug
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Deceptive talk or behavior intended to trick or mislead people; a fraud or sham.
Grammar: Can be countable (a humbug) or uncountable (pure humbug).
Patterns
- a lot of humbug
- that's humbug
- pure humbug
The politician's promises were dismissed as humbug by the voters.
He saw through the advertisement's humbug and refused to buy the product.
All that talk about 'special offers' is just humbug to get you to spend more.
nouncountableBritish
A hard, usually peppermint-flavored candy.
Grammar: Usually plural: humbugs.
Patterns
- a bag of humbugs
- peppermint humbugs
Grandma always kept a tin of humbugs in her purse.
He bought a bag of humbugs from the sweet shop.
interjectionold-fashionedhumorous
Used to express contemptuous disbelief that something is nonsense.
Grammar: Often used humorously or in literary contexts, famously by Ebenezer Scrooge.
Patterns
- Bah, humbug!
“Bah, humbug!” he muttered when he saw the festive decorations.
She dismissed the idea with a quick “Humbug!”
Word forms
| plural | humbugs |
|---|
Common combinations
- a load of humbug
- The report was a load of humbug, full of misleading statistics.
- pure humbug
- His excuse was pure humbug; nobody believed a word of it.
- Bah, humbug!
- “Bah, humbug!” cried Scrooge, refusing to join the celebrations.
- peppermint humbug
- The old-fashioned sweet shop sells traditional peppermint humbugs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- nonsense
- A more general word for something that is untrue or foolish; 'humbug' often implies deliberate deception.
- fraud
- A stronger word meaning an illegal or dishonest scheme; 'humbug' can be less serious and more about empty talk.
- deception
- The act of deliberately making someone believe something that is not true; 'humbug' often refers to the talk or behavior itself.
Opposites
Practice
The salesman's claim that the product could cure all diseases was dismissed as pure _____.
Choose one answer.
The noun 'humbug' means deceptive talk or a sham, which fits the context of a false claim. 'Humble' is an adjective, 'humbly' is an adverb, and 'humility' is a noun meaning modesty, none of which fit the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “humbug”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.