hokum
Use Hokum in a sentence
kəm noun
1.
out-and-out nonsense; bunkum.
2.
elements of low comedy introduced into a play, novel, etc., for the laughs they may bring.
3.
sentimental matter of an elementary or stereotyped kind introduced into a play or the like.
4.
false or irrelevant material introduced into a speech, essay, etc., in order to arouse interest, excitement, or amusement.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To hokum
00:10
Hokum
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
hokum (ˈhəʊkəm) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | claptrap; bunk |
| 2. | obvious or hackneyed material of a sentimental nature in a play, film, etc |
| [C20: probably a blend of | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
hokum
1917, theater slang, "melodramatic, exaggerated acting," probably formed on model of bunkum (see bunk (2)), and perhaps influenced by hocus-pocus. The derived adj. hokey first recorded 1927.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
Much of it was probably hokum cooked up by paranoids and far-right crazies.
Such miracles, in this day and age, bespeak a hokum beyond the reach of art.
It may be a piece of well-polished hokum in plot, but it possesses a certain refreshing levity that makes it a good entertainment.
Mailer's obituaries tended to settle for the nil nisi hokum note.
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