A dated slang noun meaning the practice of humbug — deliberate deception, nonsense, or fraudulent talk intended to mislead or impress. Where 'humbug' is the act or the thing itself, 'humbugism' frames it as a system or philosophy, lending a mock-academic air to the idea of professional nonsense-peddling. Particularly fitting for describing the elaborate self-serving rhetoric of politicians, con artists, and anyone who has elevated the art of talking rubbish into a lifestyle.
The senator's speech was a masterclass in humbugism — forty minutes of confident assertions that added up to absolutely nothing.
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(dated, slang) humbug; nonsense.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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