hocus
/ˈhəʊkəs/verb, noun
hocus is spelled H-O-C-U-S: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, hocus means “To play a trick on, to trick (someone); to hoax; to cheat” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hocus?
| Letters | 5: H-O-C-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,775th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hocus?
Hocus appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hocus?
- /ˈhəʊkəs/
Hocus has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hocus.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hocus
- hocuses present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- hocusses present, singular, he/she/it
- hocusing participle, present
- hocussing participle, present
- hocused participle, past
- hocussed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hocus mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To play a trick on, to trick (someone); to hoax; to cheat.
- 2
obsoleteTo stupefy (someone) with drugged liquor (especially in order to steal from them).
- 3
obsoleteTo drug (liquor).
- 4
obsoleteTo adulterate (food).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA magician, illusionist, one who practises sleight of hand.
- 2
obsoleteOne who cheats or deceives.
- 3
Trick; trickery.
- 4
obsoleteDrugged liquor.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does hocus come from?
Pseudo-Latinism, derived from ellipsis of hocus-pocus. The verb is from the noun.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).