woo woo
/ˈwuːˌwuː/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.57 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person readily accepting supernatural, paranormal, occult, or pseudoscientific phenomena, or emotion-based beliefs and explanations.
Countable; Derogatory; Slang
noun
Supernatural, paranormal, occult, esoteric, or pseudoscientific phenomena, or emotion-based beliefs and explanations.
Derogatory; Slang; Uncountable
adj
Readily accepting supernatural, paranormal, occult, or pseudoscientific phenomena, or emotion-based beliefs and explanations.
Derogatory; Slang
noun
An alcoholic cocktail consisting of peach schnapps, vodka and cranberry juice.
Example Sentences
- "That reporter is a bit of a woo woo."
- "Near-synonyms: supernatural, paranormal, occult, esotericism, pseudoscience, quackery"
- "He is really into all that woo woo."
- "[…] there would still be realists who did not buy the woo-woo."
- "He made a living out of woo woo beliefs."
- "One person's wonderful supplement is another person's quackery. There are continual skirmishes—if not outright war—between some of the more woo-woo elements of the wellness industry and science and fact-based solutions."
Etymology
Uncertain. It has been suggested that "woo woo" is intended to imitate the eerie background music of sci-fi/horror films and television shows. A connection has also been suggested to stereotypical sounds of ghosts (see boo and compare goetia).
Usage
Inflected Forms
woo woos (plural)
woo (alternative)
woo-woo (alternative)
woowoo (alternative)
more woo woo (comparative)
most woo woo (superlative)