hoodwink
Syllables: hood·winkUK/ˈhʊdwɪŋk//ˈhʊdˌwɪŋk/
hoodwink verb: to cover the eyes with, or as if with, a hood; to blindfold.
Verb
hoodwink (third-person singular simple present hoodwinks, present participle hoodwinking, simple past and past participle hoodwinked)
- To cover the eyes with, or as if with, a hood; to blindfold.
- Some there are, that through feare anticipate the hang-mans hand; as he did, whoſe friends having obtained his pardon, and putting away the cloth wherewith he was hood-winkt, that he might heare it read, was found ſtarke dead vpon the ſcaffold, wounded onely by the ſtroke of imagination.1603, Michel de Montaigne, “Of the Force of Imagination”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 40
- It is the cuſtome of theſe maydes when they walke in the ſtreetes, to couer their faces with their vailes verecundiæ cauſâ [because of modesty], the ſtuffe being ſo thin and ſlight, that they may eaſily looke through it. For it is made of a pretty ſlender ſilke, and very finely curled: ſo that...1611, Thomas Coryate [i.e., Thomas Coryat], “My Obseruations of the Most Glorious, Peerelesse, and Mayden Citie of Venice: […]”, in Coryats Crudities Hastily Gobled Vp in Five Moneths Trauells […]...
- To deceive using a disguise; to beguile, dupe, mislead.
- For, (having many times torne the vaile of modestie) it seemed, for a laste delight, that she delighted in infamy: which often she had used to her husbands shame, filling all mens eares (but his) with reproch; while he (hoodwinkt with kindnes) lest of all mẽ [men] knew who strake him.c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New...
- [T]o have to do with you, is to have to do with a man of business who is not to be hoodwinked.1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Attorney and Client”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 388
- Synonyms:
- snow
- To hide or obscure.
- Good my Lord, giue me thy fauour ſtil, / Be patient, for the prize Ile bring thee too / Shall hudwinke this miſchance: therefore ſpeake ſoftly, / All's huſht as midnight yet.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- The time was not yet come when eloquence was to be gagged, and reason to be hoodwinked—when the harp of the poet was to be hung on the willows of Arno, and the right hand of the painter to forget its cunning.1827 March, [Thomas Babington Macaulay], “Art. I. Œuvres complétes de Machiavel, traduites par J. V. Perier. Paris, 1825. [book review]”, in The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal, volume XLV...
- To close the eyes.
- [W]herfore haue you ſate ſtill, and comply'd and hood-winkt, till the generall complaints of the Land have ſqeez'd you to a wretched, cold and hollow-hearted confeſſion of ſome Prelaticall riots both in this and other places of your Booke.1641, [John Milton], Animadversions upon the Remonstrants Defence against Smectymnuus, London: […] [Richard Oulton and Gregory Dexter] for Thomas Vnderhill, […], →OCLC, page 15
Noun
hoodwink (countable and uncountable, plural hoodwinks)
- An act of hiding from sight, or something that cloaks or hides another thing from view.
- What think you of Flattery, Fondneſs, and Tears? Thoſe are Hood-winks that Wives have ready upon every Occaſion.a. 1733, [John] Gay, The Distress’d Wife. A Comedy, London: […] Thomas Astley […], published 1743, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 8
- Here were old buildings, and mazy webs of wandering; soft cliff was handy, dark wood and rushing waters, tangled lanes, fuzzy corners, nooks of overhanging, depths of in-and-out hood-winks of nature, when she does not wish man to know everything about her.1894, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, “The Pride of Life”, in Perlycross: A Tale of the Western Hills, London: Sampson Low, Marston, & Company […], →OCLC, page 417
- The game of blind man's buff.
- Whereas the Mountaine Nymphs, and thoſe that doe frequent / The Fountaines, Fields, and Groues, with wondrous meriment, / By Moone-ſhine many a night, doe giue each other chaſe, / At Hood-winke, Barley-breake, at Tick, or Priſon-baſe, / With tricks, and antique toyes, that one another mocke, / That...1622, Michael Drayton, “The Thirtieth Song”, in The Second Part, or A Continuance of Poly-Olbion from the Eighteenth Song. […], London: […] Augustine Mathewes for Iohn Marriott, Iohn Grismand, and...
- Synonyms:
- hoodman-blind
hoodwink meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
hoodwink in Tamil
- ஏமாற்று, வஞ்சி
hoodwink in Urdu
- آنکھ پر پٹی باندھنا, دھوکا دینا, جل دینا
hoodwink in Bengali
- প্রতারণা করা, চোখে ধুলো দেওয়া, প্রতারিত করা
hoodwink in Malayalam
- കണ്ണുകെട്ടുക, പറ്റിക്കുക, കബളിപ്പിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- hoodwink in Kannada
- ಮೋಸಮಾಡು, ವಂಚಿಸು, ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಮಣ್ಣೆರಚು, ಮಂಕುಗೊಳಿಸು
Examples of hoodwink in a sentence
- The earth is given over into the hand of the Wicked One, / Who hoodwinketh the faces of its judges. / If this be not so, where, who is HE?1871, “Reply of Job to the First Speech of Bildad”, in John Noble Coleman, transl., The Poem of Job: The Most Ancient Book in the Universe...
- Ex-King Constantine would be regarded as an apt disciple so long as he succeeded in his purpose of hoodwinking the Allies.1917 September 21, “The Greek White Book”, in The Near East: A Weekly Review of Oriental Politics, Literature, Finance, and Commerce...
- De Sapio [i.e, Carmine DeSapio] hoodwinks Mr. [William Averell] Harriman and the Democratic Party?1955 November 7, Russell C. Stroup, “Native Sons [letter]”, in Henry R[obinson] Luce, editor, Time, volume LXVI, number 19, New York, N.Y....
- Is it funny in the novel [The Horse’s Mouth (1944) by Joyce Cary] to hear Gulley tell about hoodwinking his former or prospective rich patrons with absurd pranks?1959 January, Parker Tyler, “Has the Horse’s Mouth a Gold Tooth?”, in Albert Frankfurter, editor, ARTnews, volume 57, number 9, New York...
Synonyms of hoodwink
Forms of hoodwink
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | hoodwinks |
| present participle | hoodwinking |
| past participle | hoodwinked |
| past | hoodwinked |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | hoodwinkest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | hoodwinkedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | hoodwinketh |
| Noun | |
| plural | hoodwinks |
Origin of hoodwink
The verb is derived from hood (“head covering attached to a larger garment such as a jacket or cloak”) + wink (“to close one’s eyes”). (< C16 'to blindfold'). The noun is derived from the verb.
Words formed from hoodwink
Questions about hoodwink
- What does hoodwink mean?
- Hoodwink means to cover the eyes with, or as if with, a hood; to blindfold.
- What is hoodwink in Tamil?
- Hoodwink in Tamil is ஏமாற்று, வஞ்சி. See Hoodwink meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use hoodwink in a sentence?
- The earth is given over into the hand of the Wicked One, / Who hoodwinketh the faces of its judges. / If this be not so, where, who is HE?
- What part of speech is hoodwink?
- Hoodwink can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce hoodwink?
- Hoodwink is pronounced /ˈhʊdwɪŋk/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of hoodwink?
- The past tense of hoodwink is hoodwinked.
Words near hoodwink in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hoodwink (page history and authors); hoodwink (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hoodwink (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Hoodwink (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hoodwink (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hoodwink (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-hoodwink.ogg.
Cite this entry: “hoodwink.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hoodwink. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.