juju

American  

[joo-joo] / ˈdʒu dʒu /

noun

1. an object venerated superstitiously and used as a fetish or amulet in West African spiritual practices.

2. the magical power attributed to such an object.

3. 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.

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juju British  

/ ˈdʒuːdʒuː /

noun

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

2. the power associated with a juju

3. a taboo effected by a juju

4. any process in which a mystery is exploited to confuse people

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Other Word Forms

• jujuism noun
• jujuist noun

Etymology

Origin of juju

First recorded in 1890–95; allegedly from Hausa jūjū “fetish,” from French joujou “toy, plaything”

Example Sentences

Our BBC Africa Eye team was able to find two people who claimed they were juju practitioners and offered to obtain body parts for ritual purposes.

From BBC

Have the world-weary shamus and the former Aztec capital lost their noir juju?

From Los Angeles Times

It has a whole lot of bad juju associated with stealing it from a community nonprofit.

From Seattle Times

The easiest is with mojos and jujus, which control the elements.

From Literature

After a rough run in the early 2000s, the director Oliver Stone took a shot at recapturing some of his “Natural Born Killers” juju with this 2012 adaptation of Don Winslow’s crime novel.

From New York Times