Word of the Day: HOODWINK

Pulling the wool over their eyes

hoodwink (verb) - to mislead, dupe, or trick someone [hood-wingk]

• hoodwinked means deceived or fooled into doing or believing something

BREAKDOWN: Hoodwink is an old English word based on hood, meaning a soft covering for the head, and wink, describing blinking or closing one’s eyes. Interestingly, hoodwink is not, as described in the Sydney Morning Herald, the only expression to visually depict deceiving someone as blindfolding them or covering their eyes: .

Medieval fairs were places of wonder and dastardly deeds where robbers were always on the lookout for victims. Their favourite technique was to pull the victim's hood over his eyes while cutting his purse-strings. Hence the expressions to hoodwink and to pull the wool over one's eyes.

“It's fun to do a comedy and hook people in and then hoodwink them into watching a serious movie. I like to lead in with the comedy and then hit them over the head with a drama.” —Reese Witherspoon

[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not necessarily derived from classical roots.]