hooey

American

[hoo-ee] / ˈhu i /

interjection

(used to express disapproval or disbelief ).

Hooey! You know that's not true.

noun

silly or worthless talk, writing, ideas, etc.; nonsense; bunk.

That's a lot of hooey and you know it!

hooey British

/ ˈhuːɪ /

noun

slang nonsense; rubbish

"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

Etymology

Origin of hooey

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; origin uncertain

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.

See Examples For:

hooey

Well, given the amount of Marvel Cinematic Universe hooey thrown into this thing . . . what isn’t the plot?

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026

Stuart Reges, who taught computer science at the school since 2004, thought this was hooey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025

It shouldn’t have to be said, but this is a bunch of hooey.

From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2025

Michiko Kakutani, writing in The New York Times, called it “a sappy romance novel, gussied up with some sentimental claptrap about the emotional life of animals and lots of Walleresque hooey about men and women.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2022

The coney was like hooey And squealed our requitals.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023