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Georgian · word · noun, verb, interjection

Humbug

HUM-bug /ˈhʌmbʌɡ/pronunciation given by a dictionary

First recordedby 1751

First a trick, hoax or jest played on someone, and 'to humbug' meant to deceive. By the 1820s it also meant sham, hypocrisy and nonsense in general, and a humbug could be a person who is a fraud. The word's origin is unknown.

Where it was first recorded

A vogue word by 1751 (The Student, per Etymonline and Green's Dictionary of Slang). Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1749 and the noun to 1750, and Green's lists an earlier 'hum-bugs' in the title of Killigrew's Universal Jester (traditionally dated 1735–40, though the OED dates that edition 1754)

Also spelled: hum (short form, in Grose), humbugg

In its own time

After all (said our landlord) this is no more than a humbug in the way of wit, though it deserves a more respectable epithet, when considered as an effort of invention.
Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 1771 · read it

Today

Modern exampleThe 'miracle' detox tea turned out to be pure humbug.

Fine to use; still current for nonsense or a fraud, and as a Dickensian exclamation.

Questions

What does humbug mean?

First a trick, hoax or jest played on someone, and 'to humbug' meant to deceive. By the 1820s it also meant sham, hypocrisy and nonsense in general, and a humbug could be a person who is a fraud. The word's origin is unknown.

When was humbug first used?

It is first recorded by 1751 — A vogue word by 1751 (The Student, per Etymonline and Green's Dictionary of Slang). Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1749 and the noun to 1750, and Green's lists an earlier 'hum-bugs' in the title of Killigrew's Universal Jester (traditionally dated 1735–40, though the OED dates that edition 1754).

Can you still use humbug today?

Fine to use; still current for nonsense or a fraud, and as a Dickensian exclamation.

Sources

  1. humbug (n.) — Online Etymology Dictionary
  2. humbug, n. — Green's Dictionary of Slang
  3. A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, Francis Grose, 1st edition (London: S. Hooper, 1785) — Internet Archive (scan + OCR)
  4. A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, 'Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'), Francis Grose — Project Gutenberg eBook #5402
  5. humbug — Merriam-Webster
  6. The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, Tobias Smollett — Project Gutenberg eBook #2160

Checked 2026-09-30 · verdict: attested — found in the dictionaries and texts listed above

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