Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

holus-bolus

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: ho-lus-bo-lus
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

All together; entirely; without modification.

Example Sentences

"to accept a story holus-bolus."
"I’ll take it on my shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, I cannot let you. Jump! One jump, and you’re out, and we’ll run for it like antelopes."

Etymology

Reduplication; further etymology unknown. Possibly of Ancient Greek origin, from ὅλος (hólos, “whole”) and βόλος (bólos, “a throw with a casting net”) or βῶλος (bôlos, “lump”). Alternatively, a pseudo-Latinism derived from a reduplication of bolus with whole. Compare similar pseudo-Latin reduplications such as hocus-pocus and omnium-gatherum.

Questions

What does holus-bolus mean?: All together; entirely; without modification.
Where does holus-bolus come from?: Reduplication; further etymology unknown. Possibly of Ancient Greek origin, from ὅλος (hólos, “whole”) and βόλος (bólos, “a throw with a casting net”) or βῶλος (bôlos, “lump”). Alternatively, a pseudo-Latinism derived from a reduplication of bolus with whole. Compare similar pseudo-Latin reduplications such as hocus-pocus and omnium-gatherum.

How to pronounce holus-bolus

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