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Synonyms

hoodoo

American  
[hoo-doo] / ˈhu du /

noun

plural

hoodoos

  1. Hoodoo. African American folk magic practiced predominantly in the southeastern United States through rituals of protection, herbal medicine, charming of objects, and ancestor veneration.

  2. (in popular culture) bad luck, or a person or thing that brings bad luck.

  3. Geology. a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion.

verb (used with object)

hoodooed, hoodooing

  1. (in popular culture) to bring or cause bad luck to.

hoodoo British  
/ ˈhuːduː /

noun

  1. a variant of voodoo

  2. informal a person or thing that brings bad luck

  3. informal bad luck

  4. (in the western US and Canada) a strangely shaped column of rock

"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

verb

  1. informal (tr) to bring bad luck to

"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

Other Word Forms

  • hoodooism noun

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.

You suspect even the watching Ant and Dec did not necessarily envisage that hoodoo ending on Saturday.

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026

James Slipper scored a try in his 200th Super Rugby match as the ACT Brumbies broke a 26-year hoodoo on Sunday with a 50-24 hammering of the Canterbury Crusaders.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

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

Steve Harmison, a former Ashes-winning fast bowler for England, believes Root is on course to end his hoodoo.

From Barron's • Nov. 16, 2025

I must be the only one free of your hoodoo bad luck.”

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

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.