Cozen — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Cozen (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. to cause to believe what is untrue

   "cozened several elderly ladies into believing that he was intending marriage"

   similar: bamboozle, beguile, bluff, buffalo, burn, catch, con, deceive, delude, dupe, fake out, fool, gaff, gammon, gull, have, have on (chiefly British), hoax, hoodwink, hornswoggle, humbug, juggle, misguide, misinform, mislead, snooker, snow, spoof, string along, suck in, sucker, take in, trick, do a number on, lead one down the garden path, pull one's leg, pull the wool over one's eyes
   related: kid, put on, tease, bleed, cheat, chisel, defraud, diddle, euchre, fleece, flimflam, hustle, mulct, rook, shortchange, skin, squeeze, stick, sting, swindle
   opposite: undeceive
   near: debunk, expose, reveal, show up, uncloak, uncover, unmask, disclose, divulge, tell, unveil, disabuse, disenchant, disillusion

2. to rob by the use of trickery or threats

   "cozened scores of people by persuading them to hand over funds that he would invest"

   similar: beat, bilk, bleed, cheat, chisel, chouse, con, defraud, diddle, do, do in, euchre, fiddle, fleece, flimflam, gaff, hose (slang), hustle, mulct, nobble (British slang), pluck, ream, rip off, rook, screw, shake down, short, shortchange, skin, skunk, squeeze, stick, stiff, sting, sucker, swindle, thimblerig, victimize, sell a bill of goods to, take for a ride, take to the cleaners
   related: extort, wrench, wrest, wring, clip, gouge, nick, overcharge, soak, exploit, milk, deceive, dupe, fool, gull, trick, rope (in), betray, bitch, double-cross, bamboozle, fast-talk