hocus-pocus
/ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/
"hocus-pocus" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hocus-pocus” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an interjection - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hocus-pocus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hocus-pocus” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hocus-pocus is 11 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto.".
No misspelling variants are generated for hocus-pocus in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: The interjection and noun are derived from pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (by a particular 17th-century conjurer who allegedly adopted the moniker… The correct English form is hocus-pocus, spelled H-O-C-U-S---P-O-C-U-S.
Definition
- 1A phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto.
Etymology
The interjection and noun are derived from pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (by a particular 17th-century conjurer who allegedly adopted the moniker Hocus Pocus) and “hax pax max Deus adimax”. The suggestion that the term is a corruption of words from the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, “hoc est enim corpus meum” (“this is my [i.e., Jesus’s] body”), was made in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Tillotson (1630–1694), but is not generally accepted. The verb is derived from the noun.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “hocus-pocus”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-O-C-U-S---P-O-C-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.