Hoodoo
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /ˈhuːduː/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Hoodoo is a noun meaning (geology) A tall thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of arid basins and badlands.
Meaning
(geology) A tall thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of arid basins and badlands.
More Meanings
- (transitive) To jinx; to bring bad luck or misfortune to.
- (uncountable) A set of spiritual practices and traditions created and concealed from slave-owners by enslaved Africans in North America, based on traditional African beliefs.
- (chiefly US) A practitioner of voodoo.
- (chiefly US) Supernatural bad luck, or something or someone believed to bring bad luck.
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.
Word Forms
- hoodoos
- hoodooing
- hoodooed
Synonyms for hoodoo
Depending on context, synonyms include fetish, juju, fetich, voodoo.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include juju, voodoo, fetish, fetich, hex, neo.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.