What does cozened mean?
To cozen someone is to deceive or cheat them through crafty persuasion, flattery, or trickery rather than open force — and 'cozened' is its simple past tense. A merchant might be cozened into buying worthless goods, or an heiress cozened out of her fortune by an unscrupulous suitor. The word carries strong connotations of guile: the victim is won over willingly, only to discover they have been duped. Though once common in English literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — appearing in Shakespeare's era and in legal discussions of fraud — it has since faded from everyday speech, surviving mainly in historical writing, literary prose, and dictionaries. It remains useful precisely because it names a specific kind of dishonesty: deception achieved through charm and cleverness, as distinct from outright theft or coercion.
verbPast tense of 'cozen': to deceive, trick, or cheat someone, typically through artful persuasion rather than force.
- To deceive or trick someone by false pretenses or artful persuasion.
- To cheat or defraud someone, especially of money or property.
"The swindler cozened the elderly widow out of her life savings."
"The charlatan cozened gullible investors into backing his worthless scheme."
"She realized too late that the charming stranger had cozened her out of her inheritance."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cozened
'Cozen' first appeared in English in the sixteenth century, and its ultimate origin remains genuinely uncertain. The most commonly suggested explanation links it to 'cousin', on the notion that deceivers posed as relatives to gain trust, though this connection is not firmly established. It quickly became a standard term for cheating and trickery in Elizabethan and Jacobean literature before gradually falling out of common use.
Related word forms
How cozened is actually used
A literary and somewhat archaic word, now rare in everyday speech but still found in historical fiction, legal writing about fraud, and formal prose. Carries a connotation of cunning deception through charm or guile rather than violence.
Easily confused with cozened
'Cousin' is a noun meaning a relative, while 'cozen' is a verb meaning to deceive; the words may be etymologically linked but differ entirely in meaning.