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hoax

[ hohks ]

/ hoʊks /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR hoax ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

something intended to deceive or defraud: The Piltdown man was a scientific hoax.

verb (used with object)

to deceive by a hoax; hoodwink.

Origin of hoax

First recorded in 1790–1800; perhaps contraction of hocus

SYNONYMS FOR hoax

1 deception, fraud, fake, imposture, humbug.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR hoax ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM hoax

hoax·er, noun un·hoaxed, adjective

Words nearby hoax

hoary marmot, hoary-headed, hoast, hoatching, hoatzin, hoax, hob, hoban, hobart, hobbema, hobbes

Example sentences from the Web for hoaxer

Whether Te'o is the hoaxer behind the fake girlfriend, or was himself hoaxed, the question remains: why on earth . . . ?

Fake Girlfriends and Other Dangerous Fabrications |Megan McArdle |January 16, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
My chattering friend here occasionally asks them, and he is a hoaxer.

Unicorns |James Huneker
He received the thousand francs from Florentine and returned to bet on his hoaxer.

A Start in Life |Honore de Balzac
Your Parisian hoaxer likes a dash of Grand Guignol horrors in his jokelet.

Swirling Waters |Max Rittenberg

And he gently pushed me toward the door, taking me for a hoaxer or a madman.

Artists' Wives |Alphonse Daudet
This, by the way, was a compromising statement on our hoaxer's part.

The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, November 1879 |Various

British Dictionary definitions for hoaxer

hoax

/ (həʊks) /

noun

a deception, esp a practical joke

verb

(tr) to deceive or play a joke on (someone)

Derived forms of hoax

hoaxer, noun

Word Origin for hoax

C18: probably from hocus