hokey
adjUK /ˈhəʊki/ · US /ˈhoʊki/
Etymology From the verb hoke (“to give an artificial feel to”), from hokum.
1
US, Colloquial Phony, as if a hoax; noticeably contrived; of obviously flimsy credibility or quality.
- When asked for his book report, Chad came up with a series of hokier and hokier excuses.
- I thought the windshield wiper blades were a little hokey when I saw their cheap packaging.
2
US, Colloquial Corny; overly or unbelievably sentimental.
- Terry hated going to the cinema with Pat; she always chose hokey romantic comedies that made him want to gag.
- After the chant, we bowed our heads and closed our eyes, as Bob administered the recitation, part prayer and part affirmation—an ever-changing hokey thing that he improvised on the spot.2018, Ling Ma, chapter 4, in Severance, →ISBN:
- Derived terms
- hokeyness
- Related terms
- hokiness, hoke, hokum, Hokey Cokey, hokeypokey, hokey-tokey