hoodoo
Americannoun
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hoodoos
plural
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
He even suggested it might be cursed — “There is a hoodoo on it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
South Africa could be a threat having broken their hoodoo with the Test Championship win.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
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
Performance aside, with seven points on the board and bottom seeds Belarus to face at the weekend, Clarke's side have given themselves a great chance of ending the nation's 27-year World Cup hoodoo.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2025
I must be the only one free of your hoodoo bad luck.”
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
By the time we made it to Black Canyon of the Gunnison, we were pretty excited to see something other than the hoodoos and arches that we were starting to take for granted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2023
This 9,915-acre state park is one of Utah’s most popular and, along with Bryce Canyon National Park, about 200 miles southwest, contains some of the largest occurrences of hoodoos in the world.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
The bus crashed a few miles from Bryce Canyon National Park, which is known for its intricately shaped red-rock spires called hoodoos.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2021
Southgate says England, a nation looking to reach a first final for 55 years, have dealt with a number of "hoodoos" already during the tournament.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2021
I been a-tryin' everywhere, but this kind o' work hoodoos a man, and they won't give me no ref'rence 'cause I don't git more'n my board and they don't want to lose me.
From Felix O'Day by Francis Hopkinson Smith
“He got hoodooed by this guy. He’s worth $16 billion. He’s obviously hoodooed a few people here and there. He took our governor for a ride,” Harpootlian said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2022
His explanation: he was being hoodooed by a radio announcer.
From Time Magazine Archive
I’ve met the graveyard rabbit—one of them had hoodooed my motor yesterday.
From The Valiants of Virginia by Hallie Erminie Rives
"How 'bout this schooner being hoodooed?" he rumbled in his deep bass.
From Sheila of Big Wreck Cove A Story of Cape Cod by R. Emmett (Robert Emmett) Owen
"What could have happened? am I dreaming? has that beetle hoodooed me?" she seems to say, and in her dismay she lets the bug drop, and looks bewilderedly about her.
From Bird Stories from Burroughs Sketches of Bird Life Taken from the Works of John Burroughs by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
Do you realize what a start like this—three twos—would mean to a professional like Frank or even an amateur that hadn't offended every busy little fate and fury in the whole hoodooing business?
From Murder in Any Degree by Owen Johnson
"I won't be any longer than I can help, and don't you go to hoodooing me, now, while I'm upstairs."
From Jewel by Clara Louise Burnham
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