Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Nonsense words or phrases used as a formula by quack conjurers.
- noun A trick performed by a magician or juggler; sleight-of-hand.
- noun Foolishness or empty pretense used especially to disguise deception or chicanery.
- transitive verb To play tricks on; deceive.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To juggle; deceive; cheat.
- noun A juggler; a trickster.
- noun A juggler’ trick; a cheat used by conjurers; jugglery.
- Juggling; cheating.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb colloq. To cheat.
- noun A term used by magicians or conjurers in pretended incantations.
- noun Archaic A juggler or trickster.
- noun A magician's trick; a cheat; nonsense.
- noun Obfuscating talk or elaborate but meaningless activity intended to hide a deception or to obscure what is actually happening; verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- interjection A phrase used as a magical incantation to bring about some change.
- noun A specific act of trickery or
nonsense .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In the 17th century, Archbishop of Canterbury John Tillotson speculated that the term "hocus-pocus" was rooted in the Latin "hoc est corpus" in the
USATODAY.com News 2011
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Right now the school is stuck between students and alumni with money and Professors that dont want to trade their irrelevant hocus-pocus they pass off as academic research creating a toxic atmosphere.
Discourse.net: Patricia D. White to Be Dean of University of Miami School of Law 2009
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The handshake is still secret, but now there are so many hints and giveaways about Masonry's hocus-pocus on the Web, television and in the movies that lodges tell petitioners not to peek or they'll spoil the fun.
Latest Freemason Conspiracy: Recruiting Younger Bros Barry Newman 2011
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It's a space that changes you as soon as you walk in, subtly working its hocus-pocus and making you feel like a welcome character in this film noir come to life.
Simona Rabinovitch: NYC Hotspot Mister H: A Shanghai Surprise of Happy Times Simona Rabinovitch 2011
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And no amount of financial hocus-pocus — for that is what the Geithner plan amounts to — will change that fact.
duh pookie 2009
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Even with the hocus-pocus, this movie has my allegiance - and not only for its well-considered view of dance.
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“A bunch of Catholic hocus-pocus gave you a skin condition?”
My Stigmata Con Chapman 2011
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Even better, how about simply making it a heartfelt spoken wish for peace, etc, without the religious hocus-pocus? —
Rick Warren Chooses Silence - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2009
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In Canada, Codan is a farm involved in some Stygian hocus-pocus, breeding genetically altered sheep, and is where I found this delightful picture ...
Archive 2009-10-01 Cromsblood 2009
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And no amount of financial hocus-pocus — for that is what the Geithner plan amounts to — will change that fact.
duh pookie 2009
andrew.simone commented on the word hocus-pocus
The etymology may be found here
December 8, 2006
oroboros commented on the word hocus-pocus
See hoax.
November 26, 2007