"Barnumize" meaning in All languages combined

See Barnumize on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Forms: Barnumizes [present, singular, third-person], Barnumizing [participle, present], Barnumized [participle, past], Barnumized [past]
Etymology: From the surname of P. T. Barnum, a 19th century American showman who co-founded the Barnum & Bailey Circus, + -ize. Etymology templates: {{suffix|en||ize}} + -ize Head templates: {{en-verb}} Barnumize (third-person singular simple present Barnumizes, present participle Barnumizing, simple past and past participle Barnumized)
  1. To enliven something, especially a spectacle or attraction.
    Sense id: en-Barnumize-en-verb-4acgBFhl
  2. To dumb down, cheapen, or vulgarize something, especially to create entertainment that appeals to coarse or unsophisticated tastes. Synonyms: Barnumise, barnumize Related terms: Barnumization
    Sense id: en-Barnumize-en-verb-bxzak40O Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ize, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 3 27 24 10 25 11 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ize: 6 26 21 9 18 20 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 5 34 25 7 15 15 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 3 33 23 5 23 13
  3. To promote with bombast, exaggeration, or outright falsehood; to hype or sensationalize.
    Sense id: en-Barnumize-en-verb-Mw4ISC67 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ize Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 3 27 24 10 25 11 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ize: 6 26 21 9 18 20
  4. To obtain money through fraudulent or deceitful means; to swindle or con.
    Sense id: en-Barnumize-en-verb-AqOehq9I
  5. To spread inaccurate or false information.
    Sense id: en-Barnumize-en-verb-IVP0yEWc Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ize Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 3 27 24 10 25 11 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ize: 6 26 21 9 18 20
  6. To seek or attract attention, especially through ostentation.
    Sense id: en-Barnumize-en-verb-zjzDO8us Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ize Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 3 27 24 10 25 11 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ize: 6 26 21 9 18 20

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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          "ref": "1864, James Russell Lowell, “General McClellan's Report”, in Political Essays, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, published 1890:",
          "text": "They went to work deliberately to Barnumize their prospective candidate. No prima donna was ever more thoroughly exploited by her Hebrew impresario. The papers swarmed with anecdotes, incidents, sayings. Nothing was too unimportant, and the new commander-in-chief pulled on his boots by telegram from Maine to California, and picked his teeth by special dispatch from the Associated Press.",
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          "text": "Looking in retrospect over his career, old P. T. Barnum was equally frank, but he had a way of making people unaware of the fact that they were being buncoed while the buncoing was going on. And the Barnumizing operation of extracting money from the curious will be more successful today if it is made less palapably^([sic]) painful.",
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          "text": "The psychiatrists are getting beyond their depth when they begin computing feminine unhappiness. So when we read that some professor finds 98 per cent of us drooping with sorrow, I think we may safely charge him with Barnumizing.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "text": "They went to work deliberately to Barnumize their prospective candidate. No prima donna was ever more thoroughly exploited by her Hebrew impresario. The papers swarmed with anecdotes, incidents, sayings. Nothing was too unimportant, and the new commander-in-chief pulled on his boots by telegram from Maine to California, and picked his teeth by special dispatch from the Associated Press.",
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          "ref": "1927 October 19, “Barnum Had Tact, Regardless”, in The Southeast Missourian:",
          "text": "Looking in retrospect over his career, old P. T. Barnum was equally frank, but he had a way of making people unaware of the fact that they were being buncoed while the buncoing was going on. And the Barnumizing operation of extracting money from the curious will be more successful today if it is made less palapably^([sic]) painful.",
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        "To obtain money through fraudulent or deceitful means; to swindle or con."
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          "ref": "1935 August 23, Mrs. Walter Ferguson, “Being Unhappy”, in The Pittsburgh Press:",
          "text": "The psychiatrists are getting beyond their depth when they begin computing feminine unhappiness. So when we read that some professor finds 98 per cent of us drooping with sorrow, I think we may safely charge him with Barnumizing.",
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      "word": "Barnumise"
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      "word": "barnumize"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Barnumize"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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