2 : to confuse, frustrate, or throw off thoroughly or completely a quarterback … It actually derives from the practice of placing a hood over the head of a falcon in the Middle Ages when engaged in the sport of falconry. The earliest meaning of bamboozle was “to deceive by trickery, hoodwink,” which is why some believe that it arose among the criminals of the underworld. hoodwink - conceal one's true motives from especially by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end; "He bamboozled his professors into thinking that he knew the subject well" bamboozle , lead by the nose , play false , pull the wool over someone's eyes , snow Find more ways to say hoodwinked, along with related words, antonyms and example phrases at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. Bamboozled definition is - thrown into a state of confusion or bewilderment especially by being deliberately fooled or misled. hoodwinked definition: 1. past simple and past participle of hoodwink 2. to deceive or trick someone: . To be deceived. hoodwink meaning: 1. to deceive or trick someone: 2. to deceive or trick someone: 3. to deceive or trick someone: . Learn more. This was done in order to trick the falcon into believing it was nighttime, thus calming the bird down so that one could recover the … Learn more. 1: to deceive by underhanded methods : dupe, hoodwink I got bamboozled by the salesperson to buy a more expensive model. Another word for hoodwinked. How to use bamboozled in a sentence. One colorful, but unlikely, theory has it that bamboozle comes from bombazine, a kind of fabric that, dyed black, used to be worn for mourning.