Humbug vs. Sweet — What's the Difference?

A humbug is a person or object that behaves in a deceptive or dishonest way, often as a hoax or in jest. The term was first described in 1751 as student slang, and recorded in 1840 as a "nautical phrase".

Having the pleasant taste characteristic of sugar or honey; not salt, sour, or bitter

Nonsense; rubbish.

Pleasing in general; delightful

Something intended to deceive; a hoax or fraud.

(of a person or action) pleasant and kind or thoughtful

One who claims to be other than what one is; an impostor.

Used for emphasis in various phrases and exclamations

Used to express disbelief or disgust.

A small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar

To deceive or trick

A sweet dish forming a course of a meal; a pudding or dessert.

To practice deception or trickery.

Used as an affectionate form of address

A hoax, jest, or prank.

The sweet part or element of something

A fraud or sham; (uncountable) hypocrisy.

Having the taste of sugar or a substance containing or resembling sugar, as honey or saccharin.

A cheat, fraudster, or hypocrite.

Containing or derived from sugar.

Nonsense.

Retaining some natural sugar; not dry

A type of hard sweet (candy), usually peppermint flavoured with a striped pattern.

Pleasing to the senses; agreeable

Anything complicated, offensive, troublesome, unpleasant or worrying; a misunderstanding, especially if trivial.

Pleasing to the mind or feelings; gratifying

A fight.

Having a pleasing disposition; lovable

A gang.

Kind; gracious

A false arrest on trumped-up charges.

Fragrant; perfumed

The piglet of the wild boar.

Not saline or salted

(slang) Balderdash!, nonsense!, rubbish!

Not spoiled, sour, or decaying; fresh

(slang) To play a trick on someone, to cheat, to swindle, to deceive.

Free of acid or acidity

To fight; to act tough.

Low in sulfur content

To waste time talking.

(Music) Of, relating to, or being a form of jazz characterized by adherence to a melodic line and to a time signature.

An imposition under fair pretenses; something contrived in order to deceive and mislead; a trick by cajolery; a hoax.

Remarkable; outstanding.

A spirit of deception; cajolery; trickishness.

Used as an intensive

One who deceives or misleads; a deceitful or trickish fellow; an impostor.

In a sweet manner; sweetly.

To deceive; to impose; to cajole; to hoax.

Sweet taste or quality; sweetness.

Pretentious or silly talk or writing

Something sweet to the taste.

Communication (writen or spoken) intended to deceive

Foods, such as candy, pastries, puddings, or preserves, that are high in sugar content.

Something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage

(Informal) Sweet potatoes

Trick or deceive

A sweet dish, such as pudding, served as dessert.

A sweetmeat or confection.

A dear or beloved person.

Something pleasing to the mind or feelings.

Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

Having a taste of sugar.

(wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.

Not having a salty taste.

Having a pleasant smell.

Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale.

Having a pleasant sound.

Having a pleasing disposition.

Having a helpful disposition.

(mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.

(informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.

(slang) Doing well; in a good or happy position.

Romantically fixated; enamored with; fond of.

; not salt or brackish.

To the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.

An intensifier.

Used as a positive response to good news or information.

In a sweet manner.

(uncountable) The basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.

A food eaten for dessert.

Synonym of sweetheart, a term of affection.

(obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.

(obsolete) Sweetness, delight; something pleasant to the mind or senses.

To sweeten.

Having an agreeable taste or flavor such as that of sugar; saccharine; - opposed to sour and bitter; as, a sweet beverage; sweet fruits; sweet oranges.

Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense.

Pleasing to the ear; soft; melodious; harmonious; as, the sweet notes of a flute or an organ; sweet music; a sweet voice; a sweet singer.

Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair; as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion.

Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water.

Not changed from a sound or wholesome state. Specifically: (a) Not sour; as, sweet milk or bread. (b) Not state; not putrescent or putrid; not rancid; as, sweet butter; sweet meat or fish.

Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable; winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners.

That which is sweet to the taste; - used chiefly in the plural.

That which is sweet or pleasant in odor; a perfume.

That which is pleasing or grateful to the mind; as, the sweets of domestic life.

One who is dear to another; a darling; - a term of endearment.

Sweetly.

To sweeten.

English phonetician; one of the founders of modern phonetics (1845-1912)

A dish served as the last course of a meal

A food rich in sugar

The taste experience when sugar dissolves in the mouth

The property of containing sugar

Having a pleasant taste (as of sugar)

Having a sweet nature befitting an angel or cherub;

Pleasing to the ear;

One of the four basic taste sensations; very pleasant; like the taste of sugar or honey

Pleasing to the senses;

Pleasing to the mind or feeling;

Having a natural fragrance;

(used of wines) having a sweet taste

Not soured or preserved;

With sweetening added

Not having a salty taste;

In an affectionate or loving manner (`sweet' is sometimes a poetic or informal variant of `sweetly');