bamboozle
2 synonyms for bamboozle, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Verb — To trick or deceive someone, often to make them look foolish.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Etymology
This is a derivative of the 17th-century vernacular bam (“to trick, to con”), itself a derivative of bam used as a noun (fraudster, cheat). It possibly comes from French embobiner.
Full origin of bamboozle →