hullabaloo
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does hullabaloo mean? A hullabaloo is an uproar or a noisy commotion, especially the sound of a bunch of people shouting in protest about something. A hullabaloo doesn’t have to be literally noisy—the word can also be used to refer to all the talk and commentary surrounding a controversy, such as on social media. Because hullabaloo sounds a little silly, it’s often used to be funny. Example: There was a big hullabaloo at the parents’ meeting when it was announced that brownies wouldn’t be allowed at the bake sale.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hullabaloo
1750–60; apparently variant of haloobaloo, rhyming compound based on Scots baloo lullaby
Explanation
Hullabaloo is a lovely term for a fuss or commotion, usually over something of little or no importance, like a celebrity's new hair style. Save hullabaloo for the trivial fuss. Anything of real importance — a war, a murder, for example — merits a more serious term like "disturbance" or "outcry." Hullabaloo allegedly comes from the sound of lots of people saying "Hullo!" Hullo!" In other words, it's an onomatopoeic word, that is to say it sounds like its meaning, like hiss or tick tock or oink. Curious fact: there's no plural to hullabaloo: hullabaloos is not a word.
Vocabulary lists containing hullabaloo
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many locals who are used to coexisting with the sharks think it’s all a big hullabaloo, too.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
For all the hullabaloo, the markets aren’t reacting much differently.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
But as I observed then, hullabaloo over “milestone” numbers is typically misplaced.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026
But after seeing all this hullabaloo, I thought I'd take my first crack at the season of self-inflicted suffering — in the name of journalism, not Jesus.
From Salon • Apr. 18, 2025
My muddled head did not register the great hullabaloo at first, but then my ears awoke.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
