hullabaloo
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does hullabaloo mean? A hullabaloo is an uproar or a noisy commotion, especially the sound of a bunch of people shouting in protest about something. A hullabaloo doesn’t have to be literally noisy—the word can also be used to refer to all the talk and commentary surrounding a controversy, such as on social media. Because hullabaloo sounds a little silly, it’s often used to be funny. Example: There was a big hullabaloo at the parents’ meeting when it was announced that brownies wouldn’t be allowed at the bake sale.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hullabaloo
1750–60; apparently variant of haloobaloo, rhyming compound based on Scots baloo lullaby
Explanation
Hullabaloo is a lovely term for a fuss or commotion, usually over something of little or no importance, like a celebrity's new hair style. Save hullabaloo for the trivial fuss. Anything of real importance — a war, a murder, for example — merits a more serious term like "disturbance" or "outcry." Hullabaloo allegedly comes from the sound of lots of people saying "Hullo!" Hullo!" In other words, it's an onomatopoeic word, that is to say it sounds like its meaning, like hiss or tick tock or oink. Curious fact: there's no plural to hullabaloo: hullabaloos is not a word.
Vocabulary lists containing hullabaloo
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.
The production values are hilarious, particularly the atomic age Hullabaloo set where Strong and her backup dancers perform.
From Slate • Dec. 15, 2019
She and Mr. Boggs both worked on the Tulane newspaper, The Hullabaloo, she as women’s editor and he as editor in chief.
From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2013
This show was about Nazis and aliens and that time Jessica Lange briefly turned her brain into a mental hospital version of Hullabaloo.
From Slate • Jan. 24, 2013
"The internal integrity of those mythologies should be acknowledged and respected," he writes in a Jan. 25 blog post titled "The Heimdall Hullabaloo."
From Salon • Apr. 20, 2011
The Daily Hullabaloo says—Shine, boss?—But she wouldn't cut it on the bias, because she thought—Read the Evening Slop-Bucket!
From The Journal of Arthur Stirling : the Valley of the Shadow by Sinclair, Upton
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.
