Humbug

·noun A spirit of deception; cajolery; trickishness.

II. Humbug ·noun One who deceives or misleads; a deceitful or trickish fellow; an Impostor.

III. Humbug ·noun An imposition under fair pretenses; something contrived in order to deceive and mislead; a trick by cajolery; a hoax.

IV. Humbug ·vt To Deceive; to Impose; to Cajole; to Hoax.

humbug
To deceive, or impose on one by some story or device. A humbug; a jocular imposition, or deception. ...

Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
humbug
An imposition; a hoax. And as a verb, to impose upon; to deceive. A low word.--Worcester. "There is...

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.