hoodoo

[ hoo-doo ]
See synonyms for hoodoo on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural hoo·doos.
  1. Hoodoo. African American folk magic practiced predominantly in the southeastern United States through rituals of protection, herbal medicine, charming of objects, and ancestor veneration.: Compare Vodou, Voodoo (def. 1).

  2. (in popular culture) bad luck, or a person or thing that brings bad luck.

  1. Geology. a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion.

verb (used with object),hoo·dooed, hoo·doo·ing.
  1. (in popular culture) to bring or cause bad luck to.

Origin of hoodoo

1
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75; apparently a variant of Voodoo

Words Nearby hoodoo

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hoodoo in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hoodoo

hoodoo

/ (ˈhuːduː) /


nounplural -doos
  1. a variant of voodoo

  2. informal a person or thing that brings bad luck

  1. informal bad luck

  2. (in the western US and Canada) a strangely shaped column of rock

verb-doos, -dooing or -dooed
  1. (tr) informal to bring bad luck to

Origin of hoodoo

1
C19: variant of voodoo

Derived forms of hoodoo

  • hoodooism, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012