hocus-pocus
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.
Until we all pay attention to what matters, the fee hocus-pocus will never stop.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
Even up close, it was impossible to tell whether it was all sleight of hand or real hocus-pocus.
From Washington Post • Oct. 21, 2021
And though I felt a bit deflated by his rationalist preamble — like Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” I wanted hocus-pocus, not realism — I was bewitched by the processing power of his mind.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 27, 2021
Endeavoring to access Langley’s notebooks, she cozies up to his niece, a down-at-the-heels dealer in antiquarian books who isn’t above employing a little Lee Israel-style hocus-pocus to produce fake inventory for a credulous clientele.
From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2019
“I knew it! I knew all you guys were going to crack up someday if you didn’t quit fooling around with this hocus-pocus stuff.”
From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
