hoopla
Americannoun
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bustling excitement or activity; commotion; hullabaloo; to-do.
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sensational publicity; ballyhoo.
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speech or writing intended to mislead or to obscure an issue.
noun
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a fairground game in which a player tries to throw a hoop over an object and so win it
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slang noise; bustle
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slang nonsense; ballyhoo
Etymology
Origin of hoopla
First recorded in 1865–70, hoopla is from the French word houp-là! command (as to a child) to move, take a step
Explanation
When people get too excited about something, you can describe it as hoopla. Your family may want to make a lot of hoopla on your birthday, while you'd prefer a quiet dinner at home. Hoopla is when someone goes overboard getting excited about something. A company may raise a lot of hoopla about a new product that's actually kind of boring, and a teacher's hoopla about the class Halloween party might seem silly if she teaches twelfth grade physics rather than kindergarten. The word hoopla has been around since at least the 1800's, although it was originally spelled houp-la, and it was first used as an exclamation similar to oopsie daisy.
Vocabulary lists containing hoopla
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.
But the hoopla surrounding the contest to own this Old Hollywood giant ignores the fact that Old Hollywood is past its prime.
From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026
Yet more than a year later, none of that hoopla appears to have moved the needle on the sale of the property.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 17, 2026
“She never knew what all the hoopla was about,” said Chris Fortier, WATR’s director of operations and programming.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026
“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” kicked off AFI Fest last week with all the hoopla befitting a film about one of America’s most iconic artists.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 28, 2025
The occasion for all the hoopla was a big football game that night with Baton Rouge, their archrival.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
