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hoax

verb, noun — 2 senses

hoax

verb

UK /həʊks/ · US /hoʊks/

Etymology Reportedly a form of hocus. Possibly from hocus-pocus or Latin iocus (“joke”). Compare hokey.

1

To deceive (someone) by making them believe something that has been maliciously or mischievously fabricated.

Derived terms
hoaxable, hoaxee, hoaxer, hoaxster, unhoax

hoax

noun

Etymology Reportedly a form of hocus. Possibly from hocus-pocus or Latin iocus (“joke”). Compare hokey.

1

Anything deliberately intended to deceive or trick.

  • The phone call to the police about a tiger in a tree turned out to be a hoax.
  • The news story about the pop singer coming to town, unfortunately for his fans, turned out to be a hoax.
Derived terms
climate hoax, coronahoax, global hoax, hoaxical, hoaxlike, Hoaxocaust, hoaxter, Holohoax

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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