noun · countable / uncountable · rare

hocus-pocus

hocus-pocus · hocus-pocuses · hocus-pocusses

фокус, фокус-покус

Hokuspokus

Some ineffectual action or speech, especially if intended to divert attentionSome ineffectual action or speech, especially if intended to divert attention; nonsense.

UK/ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/US/ˌhoʊkəs ˈpoʊkəs/

Meaning

5 senses

(uncountable, usually)Some ineffectual action or speech, especially if intended to divert attention; nonsense.
(derogatory, uncountable, usually)Religious or supernatural phenomena one holds to be nonsense or mere trickery; superstitious mumbo-jumbo.
(US, also, attributive, countable, uncountable, usually)Some action carried out to bring about change as if by magic; a trick; sleight of hand, trickery.
Hokuspokus
фо́кусfókus, фо́кус-по́кусfókus-pókus
(countable, obsolete, usually)A conjurer.
(countable, obsolete, usually)A conjurer's trick.

More definitions

a meaningless chant or expression used in conjuring or incantation.
verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way

Translations

4 languages

Русский

By meaning 1

some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery:

Deutsch

By meaning 1

some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery:

Origin

Pseudo-Latinism. The interjection and noun are derived from pseudo-Latin magical incantati

Pseudo-Latinism. The interjection and noun are derived from pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (by a particular 17th-century conjurer who allegedly adopted the moniker Hocus Pocus) and “hax pax max Deus adimax”. The suggestion that the term is a corruption of words from the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, “hoc est enim corpus meum” (“this is my [i.e., Jesus’s] body”), was made in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Tillotson (1630–1694), but is not generally accepted.

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