hokum

English

Etymology

Attested, at first in American English, since about 1917, probably a blend of hocus-pocus +‎ bunkum.[1][2]

Noun

hokum (usually uncountable, plural hokums)

  1. (informal) Meaningless nonsense with an outward appearance of being impressive and legitimate.
    • 2013, Mike D'Angelo, "Review of Short Term 12":
      A war gets fought between authenticity and hokum in Short Term 12, and it ends in an uneasy truce.

Synonyms

  • bunkum; see also Thesaurus:nonsense

Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ “hokum” in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
  2. ↑ “hokum” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Anagrams

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