juju
Americannoun
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an object venerated superstitiously and used as a fetish or amulet in West African spiritual practices.
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the magical power attributed to such an object.
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Informal. an emanating aura or supernatural force: The team chalked up that string of unfortunate losses to bad juju on the road.
The charismatic lead singer has serious juju.
The team chalked up that string of unfortunate losses to bad juju on the road.
noun
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an object superstitiously revered by certain W African peoples and used as a charm or fetish
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the power associated with a juju
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a taboo effected by a juju
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any process in which a mystery is exploited to confuse people
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of juju
First recorded in 1890–95; allegedly from Hausa jūjū “fetish,” from French joujou “toy, plaything”
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.
She says the room is filled with the good juju of champions her grandfather groomed there when this was his house.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026
Sheku Tarawallie, president of Sierra Leone's Council of Traditional Healers, is adamant that "diabolic" juju men like Kanu are giving healers a bad name.
From BBC • Nov. 23, 2025
But no matter how much juju we employ, we keep missing—just high, just low, just right.
From Slate • Jul. 7, 2025
It has a whole lot of bad juju associated with stealing it from a community nonprofit.
From Seattle Times • May 26, 2024
“The bag protects you against whatever juju or mojo that’s released when you open it. It says so on the fine print.”
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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.
