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The former headmistress of the school said she had been "hoodwinked" by Savile, but described some of those who had brought the allegations as "delinquents".

Source: Wikipedia article (permalink to section "Background")

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What did your research find on the meaning of the word? – GEdgar Feb 26 at 1:42
@GEdgar: something like lying. But I don't get why not say it straight out. There ought to be some connotation of hidden meaning that I don't know yet. This is why I asked. – 0xC0000022L Feb 26 at 1:43
It's not like lying it's like tricked. – Jim Feb 26 at 2:14
@Jim: is there any connotation intended? Is it "mincing" the word tricked? Please, by all means, write up an answer. – 0xC0000022L Feb 26 at 2:16

1 Answer

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To be "hoodwinked" is to be tricked or deceived.

Some other synonyms:

cheat, bamboozle, delude, beguile

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thanks for taking the time to answer. Is there any connotation intended in this context? Does the headmistress try to "mince" her words by using this instead of using what I perceive as stronger synonyms? – 0xC0000022L Feb 26 at 2:49
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Coming from a different culture than those involved in the referenced article, I think the word "hoodwinked" is indeed mincing words. This is not a case of someone outwitting someone out of a chocolate bar, this is someone who was misled by a pedophile. Good call and good question, @0xC0000022L! – Kristina Lopez Feb 26 at 3:10

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