juju
/ˈd͡ʒuːd͡ʒu/noun
juju is spelled J-U-J-U: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, juju means “A fetish or charm believed by West Africans to have magical or supernatural powers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of juju is jujus.
How many letters and syllables are in juju?
| Letters | 4: J-U-J-U |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,017th 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 juju?
Juju appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th 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 juju?
- /ˈd͡ʒuːd͡ʒu/
Juju 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: En-au-juju.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with juju
Also written: ju-ju (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of juju
- jujus plural
- ju-ju
- jou-jou
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does juju mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A fetish or charm believed by West Africans to have magical or supernatural powers.
- 2
The magical or supernatural power of such a charm.
- 3
informalThe (usually negative) karmic consequences of an action or behavior.
That's some bad juju.
- 4
slangA marijuana cigarette; a joint.
- 5
Synonym of jùjú (“music genre”).
noun
- 1
A genre of popular Nigerian music that comes from traditional Yoruba percussion traditions.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does juju come from?
From a West African language, probably originally from French joujou.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).