hokum

noun

ho·​kum ˈhō-kəm 

1

: a device used (as by showmen) to evoke a desired audience response

2

: pretentious nonsense : bunkum

Synonyms

• applesauce [slang]
• balderdash
• baloney
• boloney
• beans
• bilge
• blah
• blah-blah
• blarney
• blather
• blatherskite
• blither
• bosh
• bull [slang]
• bunk
• bunkum
• buncombe
• claptrap
• codswallop [British]
• crapola [slang]
• crock
• drivel
• drool
• fiddle
• fiddle-faddle
• fiddlesticks
• flannel [British]
• flapdoodle
• folderol
• falderal
• folly
• foolishness
• fudge
• garbage
• guff
• hogwash
• hokeypokey
• hoodoo
• hooey
• horsefeathers [slang]
• humbug
• humbuggery
• jazz
• malarkey
• malarky
• moonshine
• muck
• nerts [slang]
• nonsense
• nuts
• piffle
• poppycock
• punk
• rot
• rubbish
• senselessness
• silliness
• slush
• stupidity
• taradiddle
• tarradiddle
• tommyrot
• tosh
• trash
• trumpery
• twaddle

Examples of hokum in a Sentence

Everyone knows his story is pure hokum.

His new film is yet another piece of Hollywood hokum.

Recent Examples on the Web

In past case studies of argyria, a common source is hokum therapies promoted by naturopaths and their ilk. —Ars Technica, 10 Jan. 2025

The Tribune eventually admitted in print that its story was intentional hokum. —Marianne Mather, Chicago Tribune, 9 Jan. 2025

Some of the biggest peddlers of drone hokum have been elected officials. —Noah Shachtman, Rolling Stone, 19 Dec. 2024

Trying this out is part of coffee testing's scientific method, but the insistence on 175 degrees also read like marketing hokum. —Joe Ray, WIRED, 17 Dec. 2019

Word History

Etymology

probably blend of hocus-pocus and bunkum

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined at sense 1