Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An act intended to deceive or trick.
- noun Something that has been established or accepted by fraudulent means.
- transitive verb To deceive or cheat by using a hoax.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A humorous or mischievous deception; a practical joke; usually, a marvelous or exciting fabrication or fiction gravely related as a test of credulity.
- noun One who misleads or deceives; a hoaxer; a humbug.
- To deceive by an amusing or mischievous fabrication or fiction; play upon the credulity of.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A deception for mockery or mischief; a deceptive trick or story; a practical joke.
- transitive verb To deceive by a story or a trick, for sport or mischief; to impose upon sportively.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To deceive (someone) by making them believe something which has been maliciously or mischievously fabricated.
- noun Anything
deliberately intended todeceive ortrick .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage
- verb subject to a playful hoax or joke
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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– I agree that one about climate science being a hoax is my favorite.
Think Progress » Hoekstra: I’d ‘Prefer’ To Tell Cheney To ‘Kind Of Back Off’ Obama 2010
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This hoax is then used to justify the immediate purchase of 80 million doses of Tamiflu, a worthless drug that in no way shape or form treats the avian flu, but only decreases the amount of days one is sick and can actually contribute to the virus having more lethal mutations.
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An alternative, if available, is often used instead of the word hoax.
Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000
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An alternative, if available, is often used instead of the word hoax.
Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000
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An alternative, if available, is often used instead of the word hoax.
Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000
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An alternative, if available, is often used instead of the word hoax.
Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000
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Mr. Troyer said later that some of the search had been in response to what he called a hoax - a man called the police and falsely said he was the gunman.
International Herald Tribune - World News, Analysis, and Global Opinions 2009
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Mr. Troyer said later that some of the search had been in response to what he called a hoax - a man called the police and falsely said he was the gunman.
NYT > Global Home 2009
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Mr. Troyer said later that some of the search had been in response to what he called a hoax - a man called the police and falsely said he was the gunman.
NYT > Home Page 2009
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Mr. Troyer said later that some of the search had been in response to what he called a hoax - a man called the police and falsely said he was the gunman.
NYT > Home Page 2009
oroboros commented on the word hoax
Contraction of hocus-pocus.
November 26, 2007