hoodoo
Americannoun
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Hoodoo. African American folk magic practiced predominantly in the southeastern United States through rituals of protection, herbal medicine, charming of objects, and ancestor veneration.
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(in popular culture) bad luck, or a person or thing that brings bad luck.
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Geology. a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a variant of voodoo
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informal a person or thing that brings bad luck
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informal bad luck
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(in the western US and Canada) a strangely shaped column of rock
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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
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
Mosaku: I spoke to hoodoo priestesses and that was really my main research, was kind of the faith, because that is who she is.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025
Steve Harmison, a former Ashes-winning fast bowler for England, believes Root is on course to end his hoodoo.
From Barron's • Nov. 16, 2025
I must be the only one free of your hoodoo bad luck.”
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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.
