誤魔化す

Japanese

Kanji in this term
誤 魔 化
ご
Grade: 6		 ま
Grade: S		 か
Grade: 3
on’yomi

Alternative forms

  • 胡魔化す

Etymology

First recorded in the Edo period.

According to one theory, formed from 護摩 (goma, “a holy fire in esoteric Buddhism”) + verbalizing suffix かす (kasu), from a common fraud perpetrated in the Edo period of dressing as a monk and selling regular ash purported to be ash from such holy fires.

Alternatively, from 胡麻菓子 (goma kashi, “sesame candy”), from a particular sesame candy in the Edo period called 胡麻胴乱 (goma dōran) and notable for being a mostly empty shell.

The kanji spellings are examples of ateji. The more common spelling is in hiragana, as ごまかす.

Pronunciation

Verb

誤魔化す (transitive, godan conjugation, hiragana ごまかす, rōmaji gomakasu)

  1. to cheat or deceive
  2. to lie
  3. to evade a question or deflect attention; to gloss over a mistake; to fudge; to bullshit
  4. to embezzle
  5. to defraud or swindle

Conjugation

Synonyms

References

  1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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