What it means
To mug someone off means treating them like an idiot and getting one over on them, whether that's lying, flaking, cheating, or clowning them in front of others. It's common UK chat, with Love Island helping blast it into everyone’s vocab. If you feel mugged off, you’ve been done dirty and made to look like a proper mug.
Usage examples
"He swore he was skint, then chucked a story up buying shots for the whole pub. He's mugged you off, mate, don't fall for it again."
"He told everyone he'd pay us back then ghosted, proper mugged us all off."
Where it comes from
Built on "mug", old slang for both a face and a gullible fool. To mug someone off is to treat them like that gullible mug, and the phrase exploded in recent years thanks to reality telly drama where someone is always being mugged off.
Other ways to say it
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