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Synonyms

hoodoo

American  
[hoo-doo] / ˈhu du /

noun

plural

hoodoos

  1. Hoodoo. African American folk magic practiced predominantly in the southeastern United States through rituals of protection, herbal medicine, charming of objects, and ancestor veneration.

  2. (in popular culture) bad luck, or a person or thing that brings bad luck.

  3. Geology. a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion.

verb (used with object)

hoodooed, hoodooing

  1. (in popular culture) to bring or cause bad luck to.

hoodoo British  
/ ˈhuːduː /

noun

  1. a variant of voodoo

  2. informal a person or thing that brings bad luck

  3. informal bad luck

  4. (in the western US and Canada) a strangely shaped column of rock

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. informal (tr) to bring bad luck to

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • hoodooism noun

Etymology

Origin of hoodoo

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75; apparently a variant of Voodoo

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.

You suspect even the watching Ant and Dec did not necessarily envisage that hoodoo ending on Saturday.

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026

James Slipper scored a try in his 200th Super Rugby match as the ACT Brumbies broke a 26-year hoodoo on Sunday with a 50-24 hammering of the Canterbury Crusaders.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

Winger Corey Toole is confident the ACT Brumbies have what it takes to snap a 26-year hoodoo against the Canterbury Crusaders in Christchurch, drawing inspiration from their drought-breaking victory in Auckland last year.

From Barron's • Feb. 21, 2026

Researching Annie, I had to look back at where I’m from, because she’s a hoodoo priestess and hoodoo is a derivative of Ifa, and Ifa is the traditional Yoruba religion.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

So feel I. Living in the Congo shakes open the prison house of my disposition and lets all the wicked hoodoo Adahs run forth.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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.