Word.ws English Dictionary

humbugeous

humbugeous adjective: characteristic of a humbug.

Adjective

humbugeous (comparative more humbugeous, superlative most humbugeous)

  1. (rare) Characteristic of a humbug.
    • [A]midst so much that is high-minded and sincere, there is perhaps still more that is selfish and cunning, that is, in fact, not genuine but humbugeous.1844, “Robert Montgomery”, in R[ichard] H[enry] Horne, editor, A New Spirit of the Age, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], page 323
    • Fussy and ‘pompious’ Tumblety Bug seemed to say with Senator Benton, when he moved the celebrated Jackson ‘Expunging Resolutions:’ ‘Solitary and alone, I set this ball in motion!’ That ‘was so,’ too: but while we pondered upon the object of the humbugeous, insectual laborer, lo! he vanished from...1861 May, “Editor’s Table”, in The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, volume LVII, number 5, New York, N.Y.: J. R. Gilmore, […], page 571

Examples of humbugeous in a sentence

  • But of course you found the old gentleman was cracked—or half-cracked, with a touch of the humbugeous.1873, Mortimer Collins, “The Rivals”, in Squire Silchester’s Whim, volume I, London: Henry S[amuel] King & Co., […], page 185:
  • Barnum would say, and I shall take the liberty of saying, they were “humbugeous.”1878, “My Great Electioneering Trick”, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, London: John and Robert Maxwell […], →OCLC, page 8:

Forms of humbugeous

comparativemore humbugeous
superlativemost humbugeous

Origin of humbugeous

From humbug + -eous.

Questions about humbugeous

What does humbugeous mean?
Humbugeous means characteristic of a humbug.
How do you use humbugeous in a sentence?
But of course you found the old gentleman was cracked—or half-cracked, with a touch of the humbugeous.
What part of speech is humbugeous?
Humbugeous is an adjective.

Words near humbugeous in the dictionary

  1. humbucking pickups
  2. humbug
  3. humbugability
  4. humbugable
  5. humbuged
  6. humbugeous
  7. humbuggable
  8. humbugged
  9. humbugger
  10. humbuggeries
  11. humbuggers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: humbugeous (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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