juju

[joo-joo]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR juju ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an object venerated superstitiously and used as a fetish or amulet by tribal peoples of West Africa.

the magical power attributed to such an object.

a ban or interdiction effected by it.

Origin of juju

1890–95; allegedly < Hausa jūjū fetish

Related formsju·ju·ism, nounju·ju·ist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for juju

phylactery, trinket, amulet, talisman, fetish, mascot, periapt

Examples from the Web for juju

Contemporary Examples of juju

Good Morning America anchor Juju Chang asked Smart how she had found the courage to testify against her captor Mitchell.
Elizabeth Smart on How She Survived Her Kidnapping
Liz Goodwin
March 12, 2011
Juju Chang is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and news anchor for Good Morning America .
Hope After An Unspeakable Crime
JuJu Chang
August 27, 2010
Juju Chang, Deborah Roberts and Elizabeth Vargas report, while John Stossel apparently gets the hell outta there.
Beyond Ryan Seacrest
Nicole Ankowski
December 28, 2008

Historical Examples of juju

Answer that it is I, Juju, and you will be speaking the truth.
Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo
Louis Guimbaud
But who in all the Dogon had ever witnessed such a juju man?
Black Man's Burden
Dallas McCord Reynolds
The juju will be angry; he will not let us, he will kill us.
The White Queen of Okoyong
W.P. Livingstone
On a little island was a hut, guarded by priests, in which the juju was supposed to live.
The White Queen of Okoyong
W.P. Livingstone
They were found buried and covered with blood, some of them having been used amongst the apparatus of their Juju sacrifices.
Antique Works of Art from Benin
Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers

British Dictionary definitions for juju

juju

noun

an object superstitiously revered by certain W African peoples and used as a charm or fetish

the power associated with a juju

a taboo effected by a juju

any process in which a mystery is exploited to confuse people

Derived Formsjujuism, nounjujuist, noun

Word Origin for juju

C19: probably from Hausa djudju evil spirit, fetish

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for juju

n.2

"marijuana cigarette," 1940, supposedly from reduplicated middle syllable of marijuana.

n.1

object of religious veneration among West Africans, 1860, supposedly ultimately from French joujou "toy, plaything."