hoodoo
/ˈhudu/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.55 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A set of spiritual practices and traditions created and concealed from slave-owners by enslaved Africans in North America, based on traditional African beliefs.
Uncountable
noun
Supernatural bad luck, or something or someone believed to bring bad luck.
American usage; Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The three men wondered whether they would find Colson at Taylor's Creek. They felt that a hoodoo hung over the place."
- "It was even larger than the mirage made it look—a dozen miles across and a thousand feet deep, with fins and towers and hoodoos like observation posts, mesas and minor buttes, springs flowing brightly in the red rock."
- "This park’s strange and beautiful rock formations were formed by the Yellowstone River and various streams that have cut through the rock over millions of years, carving out hoodoos, spires and caprocks. The name Makoshika comes from a Lakota word for badlands."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhudu/
- British English: /ˈhuːduː/
Usage
- Uncountable
- American usage
- Countable
- Transitive verb