JLPT N1 · Verb

ごまかす (gomakasu)

ごまかす is a Japanese verb meaning “to deceive; to cheat”. It is usually written in kana. It appears in JLPT N1 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: ごまかす
Romaji: gomakasu
Word class: Godan verb (う-verb) ending in す
Level: JLPT N1 (unofficial)

Meaning

to deceive; to cheat; to swindle · godan verb, transitive · usually written in kana
to falsify; to misrepresent; to lie about; to tamper with; to fiddle · godan verb, transitive · usually written in kana
to evade (a question, taxes, etc.); to dodge; to gloss over (a mistake, fault, etc.); to smooth over; to get one's way out of (a difficult situation) · godan verb, transitive · usually written in kana
to embezzle; to pocket · godan verb, transitive · usually written in kana

Example sentences

そんな手で私の目をごまかそうとしても無駄だ。

You can't fool me with a trick like that.

Tatoeba #204096

彼らは税金を逃れるために帳じりをごまかした。

They falsified the account balances to evade the tax.

Tatoeba #96724

彼はそのことを笑ってごまかした。

He laughed the matter away.

Tatoeba #113183

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Conjugation of ごまかす

Godan verb (う-verb) ending in す. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

Form	Japanese	Reading
Dictionary	ごまかす	ごまかす gomakasu
Polite (~masu)	ごまかします	ごまかします gomakashimasu
Negative	ごまかさない	ごまかさない gomakasanai
Polite negative	ごまかしません	ごまかしません gomakashimasen
Past	ごまかした	ごまかした gomakashita
Polite past	ごまかしました	ごまかしました gomakashimashita
Negative past	ごまかさなかった	ごまかさなかった gomakasanakatta
Te-form	ごまかして	ごまかして gomakashite
Potential	ごまかせる	ごまかせる gomakaseru
Passive	ごまかされる	ごまかされる gomakasareru
Causative	ごまかさせる	ごまかさせる gomakasaseru
Volitional	ごまかそう	ごまかそう gomakasou
Imperative	ごまかせ	ごまかせ gomakase
Conditional (~ba)	ごまかせば	ごまかせば gomakaseba

Source: JMdict entry 1271480 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.