Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To mislead by means of a petty trick or fraud; deceive.
- v. To persuade or induce to do something by cajoling or wheedling.
- v. To obtain by deceit or persuasion.
- v. To act deceitfully.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An obsolete spelling of cousin.
- To cheat; defraud.
- To deceive; beguile; entice.
- To practise cheating; act dishonestly or deceitfully.
Wiktionary
- v. archaic To cheat; to defraud; to beguile; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To cheat; to defraud; to beguile; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way.
- v. To deceive; to cheat; to act deceitfully.
WordNet 3.0
- v. be false to; be dishonest with
- v. cheat or trick
- v. act with artful deceit
Etymologies
- Origin uncertain. (Wiktionary)
- Perhaps from Middle English cosin, fraud, trickery. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Mrs. Pierce to the King's Head and there spent a piece upon a supper for her and mighty merry and pretty discourse, she being as pretty as ever, most of our mirth being upon "my Cozen" (meaning my Lord Bruncker's ugly mistress, whom he calls cozen), and to my trouble she tells me that the fine Mrs. Middleton is noted for carrying about her body a continued sour base smell, that is very offensive, especially if she be a little hot.”
“Bruncker's ugly mistress, whom he calls cozen), and to my trouble she tells me that the fine Mrs. Middleton is noted for carrying about her body”
“Vane to "cozen" the Scottish Presbyterian Commissioners in the phraseology of the Solemn League and Covenant; with Samuel Vassall, whose name shares with those of Hampden and Lord Say and Sele the renown of the refusal to pay ship-money, and of courting the suit which might ruin them or emancipate England; with John Venn, who, at the head of six thousand citizens, beset the House of Lords during the trial of Lord Strafford, and whom, with three other Londoners, King”
Great Epochs in American History, Vol. II The Planting Of The First Colonies: 1562—1733
“But if you have money enough for finer clothes and high-toned lodgings, then you might be planning to cozen the rich or insinuate yourself into society or spy on the powerful or throw money around without necessarily making sure some of it goes into the pockets of the powerful.”
“Time will tell, but the lesson to be learned is not to trust, cozen or praise the denialists.”
“There is no help for it but that I cozen him into divorcing me.”
“So we believed him and he ceased not to cozen us till he cast us into jail and fettered us and tortured us with exceeding sore torments; and we are strangers in the land and have no helper save Almighty Allah and our lord the”
“A place, according to [352] Anacharsis, wherein they cozen one another, a trap; nay, what's the world itself?”
“To see a man protest friendship, kiss his hand, [366] quem mallet truncatum videre, [367] smile with an intent to do mischief, or cozen him whom he salutes, [368] magnify his friend unworthy with hyperbolical eulogiums; his enemy albeit a good man, to vilify and disgrace him, yea all his actions, with the utmost that livor and malice can invent.”
“How many senators do you think our pretty pair will cozen into going with them?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cozen’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Familiar
Just a list of words
fulminate, unctuous, malediction, lumpenproletariat, descry, surfeit, sententious, supernumerary, unabashed, picayune, obliterate, decry and 109 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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EN - archaic words
abide, abjure, abroad, adamant, afield, aforetime, aghast, anon, apace, argent, assuage, aught and 328 more...
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Collected Words - List 2
I've been saving these words FOR YEARS. Now, I've found Wordie
gasconade, zaccheus, spoor, precentor, bombazine, otiose, khamsin, bruited, viva voce, whilom, lenitive, ebullition and 244 more...
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phrontistery - c
from phrontistery.info
caballine, cabas, cable, caboched, cabochon, caboose, cabotage, cabré, cabrie, cabriole, cabriolet, cacaesthesia and 1298 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Fubbery and Blaflum
An arcade of artifice and deception.
fubbery, blaflum, Drunken Fist, escamoterie, archdeceiver, legerdemain, prestidigitation, prestidigital, glaik, imposture, fraud, disguise and 78 more...
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zen
dizen, glazen, brazen, bedizen, Zinzendorf, zenith, wizen, denizen, mizenmast, mizen, lozenge, dozen and 12 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
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Unsorted
poliorcetikon, lethologica, aegrotat, haha, logolepsy, logomisia, anfractuosity, nudiustertian, tontine, herostrat, acroamatic, bibliotaph and 132 more...
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What Do You Mean ?
U Gotta Know These.......
falter, ruddy, flounder, pallid, fumble, founder, labile, titular, tacit, pragmatic, fatalism, jaded and 112 more...
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generationnext's Words
petulant, vehement, pensive, lascivious, vacillate, histrionic, satiated, svelte, lithe, zeitgeist, viscous, sommelier and 526 more...
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Faves
nepenthe, cupidity, anodyne, obdurate, doleful, obsolescent, quale, piquant, velleity, inchoate, disport, facile and 366 more...
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Lies
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
calumny, scurrilous, prevarication, mendacious, canard, cozen
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List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cozen.

bilby Isn't that ti? Apr 24, 2010
roseandivy I don't know why, but this word always makes me think of jam and bread. Apr 23, 2010
bilby
My lord, my lord, love will not always last,
When urged with long unkindness and disdain:
Take her again, whom you prefer to me;
She stays but to be called. Poor cozened man!
- John Dryden, 'All for Love'. Sep 20, 2009
yarb Citation on pettifog. Sep 19, 2008