hoke

American  

[hohk] / hoʊk /

verb (used with object)

hoked, hoking

1. to alter or manipulate so as to give a deceptively or superficially improved quality or value (usually followed byup ).

   a political speech hoked up with phony statistics.

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noun

1. hokum.

hoke British  

/ həʊk /

verb

1. to overplay (a part, etc)

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Etymology

Origin of hoke

1930–35; back formation from hokey or hokum

Explanation

To hoke is to overact or exaggerate, the way the star of your school's play might hoke up her death scene, staggering around the stage and moaning before collapsing gracefully to the ground. Hoke was originally theatrical slang, coined around 1935 from an earlier slang term, hokum, "melodramatic acting." You can use hoke as a noun or a verb for anything exaggerated or insincere, although the adjective hokey, "corny or phony," is more common. If you prefer understated, realistic movies, you're going to be annoyed by filmmakers who hoke up their productions with car chases, cartoonish action sequences, and over-the-top performances.

Example Sentences

Take a walk through the Hall of Fame gallery, where the elect are commemorated with an all-American mixture of hoke and majesty.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hot on Columbia's heels, seven other record companies got top performers in both barn and ballroom categories to record it; most called on professional lyricists to hoke up the song's meager words.

From Time Magazine Archive

Byington lists "hoke" as "an affirmative particle" in his Dictionary of the Choctaw Language.

From Time Magazine Archive

The best to my symple dyscrecon whyche is fysshynge: called Anglynge wyth a rodde: and a lyne and an hoke.

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 4 by Mabie, Hamilton Wright

Oh, go hoke your sed—I mean soak your head!

From Frank Merriwell at Yale by Standish, Burt L.

Related Words

• imitate
• lampoon
• parody
• satirize