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humbug

hum·bug/ˈhəmˌbəɡ/noun, interjection, verb

humbug is spelled H-U-M-B-U-G: 6 letters and 2 syllables (hum·bug). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, humbug means “A hoax, jest, or prank” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of humbug is humbugs.

How many letters and syllables are in humbug?

Letters6: H-U-M-B-U-G
Syllables2: hum·bug
In writingabout once in every 3 million words; the 47,073rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is humbug?

Humbug appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce humbug?

  • UK /ˈhʌmbʌɡ/
  • US /ˈhəmˌbəɡ/

Humbug has 2 syllables, split hum·bug in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-humbug.oga, En-au-humbug.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of humbug

  • humbugs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • humbugging participle, present
  • humbugged participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does humbug mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    slangA hoax, jest, or prank.

  2. 2

    slangA fraud or sham; (uncountable) hypocrisy.

  3. 3

    slangA cheat, fraudster, or hypocrite.

  4. 4

    slangNonsense.

  5. 5

    UKA type of hard sweet (candy), usually peppermint flavoured with a striped pattern.

  6. 6

    USslangAnything complicated, offensive, troublesome, unpleasant or worrying; a misunderstanding, especially if trivial.

  7. 7

    USslangA fight.

  8. 8

    USdatedslangA gang.

interjection

  1. 1

    slangBalderdash!, nonsense!, rubbish!

verb

  1. 1

    slangTo play a trick on (someone), to cheat, to swindle, to deceive.

    Of all trades and arts in repute or possession, / Humbugging is held the most ancient profession. / Twixt nations, and parties, and state politicians, / Prim shopkeepers, jobbers, smooth lawyers, physicians, / Of worth and of wisdom the tri

  2. 2

    USslangTo fight; to act tough.

  3. 3

    obsoleteslangTo waste time talking.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Humbug in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanScherz, Streich, Schabernack, Ulkerei (hoax, prank or jest), Betrug, Schwindel (fraud or sham)
Spanishfarsa, disparate, tontería, bobería (hoax, prank or jest), fraude, trampa (fraud or sham)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does humbug come from?

Origin unknown; the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) states that “the facts as to its origin appear to have been lost, even before the word became common enough to excite attention”. It has been suggested that the word possibly derives from hummer (“(slang) An obvious lie”), or from hum (“(dialectal and slang) to cajole; delude; impose on”) + bug (“a goblin, a spectre”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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