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
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:
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
United have some sort of hoodoo over Villa, who have only beaten them in one of their past 26 Premier League meetings - Unai Emery's first game in charge, in November 2022.
From BBC ● 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
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
The park, known for its crimson-hued hoodoos in southern Utah, will host its annual astronomy festival from Wednesday to Saturday, featuring day and evening events.
From New York Times ● Jun. 14, 2023
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
The laughing acquiescence of the present in hoodoos, mascots and lucky objects cannot be traced back to the credulity of any one individual.
From The Next Step in Religion An Essay toward the Coming Renaissance by Sellars, Roy Wood
“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
"Well, sir, they do say as how she is hoodooed."
From Frank Merriwell's Cruise by Standish, Burt L.
"There was a hoodooed schooner sailed out o' Salem some years back, the Marlin B. She had the same tug to sta'bo'd that I feel when I'm steerin' of this here schooner."
From Sheila of Big Wreck Cove A Story of Cape Cod by Owen, R. Emmett (Robert Emmett)
That schooner is hoodooed, as sure as sure!
From Sheila of Big Wreck Cove A Story of Cape Cod by Owen, R. Emmett (Robert Emmett)
"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 Burnham, Clara Louise
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 Johnson, Owen
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.
