hullabaloo

noun

hul·​la·​ba·​loo ˈhə-lə-bə-ˌlü 

plural hullabaloos

1

informal : a loud, continued noise or mixture of noises : din

Why do roosters crow? If they're like insects and frogs, that hullabaloo is an ad for a mate …

—Discover

Somebody heard the splash and they raised an awful hullabaloo. 'He's gone! Lower the boats! …'

—Joseph Conrad

… Hunt and her pack of highly trained dogs set off a hellacious hullabaloo, yelling and barking, discharging firecrackers …

—Christine Paige

2

informal : a state of commotion, excitement, or violent disturbance : uproar, fuss

Would there be such a hullabaloo about the violence in her books if they had been written by a man?

—Laura Z. Hobson

Sunday was a big day for the Philadelphia Phillies mascot … . It was his 40th birthday, and there was a big hullabaloo.

—Liz Roscher

There's been a lot of hullabaloo recently about the effects that grapefruit can have on certain meds.

—Chanie Kirschner

When I heard the series would finally be available to stream on Hulu, I decided to finally see what all the hullabaloo was about.

—Josh Sorokach

Synonyms

• ado
• alarums and excursions
• ballyhoo
• blather
• bluster
• bobbery
• bother
• bustle
• clatter
• clutter [chiefly dialect]
• coil
• commotion
• corroboree [Australian]
• disturbance
• do [chiefly dialect]
• foofaraw
• fun
• furor
• furore
• fuss
• helter-skelter
• hoo-ha
• hoo-hah
• hoopla
• hubble-bubble
• hubbub
• hurly
• hurly-burly
• hurricane
• hurry
• hurry-scurry
• hurry-skurry
• kerfuffle [chiefly British]
• moil
• pandemonium
• pother
• row
• ruckus
• ruction
• rumpus
• shindy
• splore [Scottish]
• squall
• stew
• stir
• storm
• to-do
• tumult
• turmoil
• uproar
• welter
• whirl
• williwaw
• zoo

Examples of hullabaloo in a Sentence

The announcement caused quite a hullabaloo.

The announcement caused a lot of hullabaloo.

There was a hullabaloo over his controversial statements.

There was a lot of hullabaloo over his controversial statements.

Recent Examples on the Web

But there’s been enough hullabaloo in the first few weeks of camp about the change for Varland to reconsider making it in the first place. —Dan Hayes, The Athletic, 25 Feb. 2025

Amid all the hullabaloo, Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds stepped out on the red carpet together for SNL50: The Anniversary Special in a first outing last night since the inception of their legal dispute. —Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 17 Feb. 2025

Melissa Clark Today’s the approximate halfway point in this week of holiday hullabaloo, and therefore a good opportunity for a moment of self-care. —Melissa Kirsch, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2024

The recent hullabaloo started when an amateur astronomer from Turkey reported a small, previously unidentified near-Earth object from 2018 data. —Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from hallo + Scots balloo, interjection used to hush children

First Known Use

1762, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing hullabaloo

• all the hullabaloo
• a lot of hullabaloo

Rhymes for hullabaloo

• accrue
• ado
• ainu
• aircrew
• airscrew
• anew
• askew
• baboo
• babu
• bamboo
• beaucoup
• bijou

Kids Definition

hullabaloo

noun

hul·​la·​ba·​loo ˈhəl-ə-bə-ˌlü 

plural hullabaloos

informal : uproar, din