bamboozling
Tricking with nonsense
Bamboozling is deceiving or tricking someone, usually through cunning or elaborate confusion: The con artist was bamboozling tourists with fake jewelry.
The word carries a playful tone—more mischievous than sinister.
Someone bamboozling you might use fast talk, misdirection, or sheer audacity rather than outright lies.
Thoroughly puzzled and confused
- perplexedThoroughly confused, uncertain
- flummoxedUtterly perplexed
- befuddledMentally confused, disoriented
- mystifiedUtterly unable to understand
puzzled · baffled · discombobulated · dumbfounded · stumped · nonplussed · disoriented · muddled
hoodwink
Trick into false belief
deceive · con · swindle · fraud · scam · hoax · sham · charlatan · impostor · flimflam
bewildered
Thoroughly puzzled and confused
- perplexedThoroughly confused, uncertain
- flummoxedUtterly perplexed
- befuddledMentally confused, disoriented
mystified · puzzled · baffled · discombobulated · dumbfounded · stumped · nonplussed · disoriented · muddled · confounded
bamboozlingleveling with
Speaking honestly to
disabusing · undeceiving · being honest · telling the truth · coming clean
bamboozlingenlightening
Providing new understanding
clarifying · explaining · illuminating · elucidating · demystifying
bamboozle, bamboozled, bamboozlement, bamboozles, bamboozler, bamboozlers