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  1. hocus-pocus love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Nonsense words or phrases used as a formula by quack conjurers.
  2. n. A trick performed by a magician or juggler; sleight-of-hand.
  3. n. Foolishness or empty pretense used especially to disguise deception or chicanery.
  4. v. To play tricks on; deceive.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A juggler; a trickster.
  2. n. A juggler’ trick; a cheat used by conjurers; jugglery.
  3. Juggling; cheating.
  4. To juggle; deceive; cheat.

Wiktionary

  1. interj. A phrase used as a magical incantation to bring about some change.
  2. n. A specific act of trickery or nonsense.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A term used by magicians or conjurers in pretended incantations.
  2. n. Archaic A juggler or trickster.
  3. n. A magician's trick; a cheat; nonsense.
  4. n. 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.
  5. v. colloq. To cheat.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way

Etymologies

  1. Dates from the 17th century when used by jugglers and magicians as a nonsense magical incantation. . Some believe it is a corruption of words from the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, hoc est corpus meum, although this is disputed. (Wiktionary)
  2. Possibly from an alteration of Latin hoc est corpus (meum), this is (my) body (words used in the Eucharist at the time of transubstantiation). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (9)

Words with the same meaning

  1. cheat
  1. nonsense
  1. trickery
  1. slickness
  1. hanky panky
  1. jiggery-pokery
  1. skulduggery
  1. skullduggery
  1. deception

hypernyms (3)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. deception
  1. misrepresentation
  1. deceit

same context (12)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. plussome
  2. esotericism
  1. cyclopean
  2. cokey
  1. neoplatonic
  2. fmri
  1. either
  2. quietistic
  1. berating
  2. abstractness
  1. off-the-wall
  2. quasi-religious

reverse dictionary (1)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. hoky-poky

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Lists

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‘hocus-pocus’ has been looked up 1758 times, added to 15 lists, commented on 2 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.