burlar

To deceive, trick, or evade — burlar la ley/la seguridad (to evade the law/security), burlar a alguien (to trick/outwit someone). Very commonly used reflexively, burlarse de, meaning to mock or make fun of someone, which is the sense most learners meet first.

• Los ladrones burlaron la seguridad del banco. — The thieves got past the bank's security.
• Sus compañeros se burlaban de él por su acento. — His classmates made fun of him for his accent.
• El corredor burló a todos sus rivales en la última vuelta. — The runner outran all his rivals on the last lap.

Burlar (without se) means to trick/evade/outwit, while burlarse de means to mock — mixing them up is common, since English 'to make fun of' maps only onto the reflexive form, not the plain transitive verb.

Often confused with engañar.

• book El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra — Attributed to Tirso de Molina (published 1630), this play introduced the myth of Don Juan to world literature; its title character is literally 'the trickster/deceiver of Seville' (el burlador), a noun built directly from burlar.