hoax

1 of 2

verb

ˈhōks 

hoaxed; hoaxing; hoaxes

transitive verb

: to trick into believing or accepting as genuine something false and often preposterous

were hoaxed by the website

hoaxer noun

hoax

2 of 2

noun

1

: an act intended to trick or dupe : imposture

the victim of a cruel hoax

assumed the bomb threat was just a hoax

2

: something accepted or established by fraud or fabrication

believes the Loch Ness Monster is a hoax

a literary hoax

Synonyms

Verb

• trick
• fool
• deceive

Noun

• counterfeit
• fake
• sham
• phoney
• forgery
• phony
• copy
• reproduction

Examples of hoax in a Sentence

Verb

a skilled forger who hoaxed the art world into believing that the paintings were long-lost Vermeers

Noun

The bomb threat is probably a hoax, but we should still evacuate the building.

She was the victim of a cruel hoax.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Kansas State University First day of classes interrupted by Hale Library hoax. —Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 31 Aug. 2025

Six universities, including the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, had hoax active shooter call threats. —Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 29 Aug. 2025

Noun

The Air Force took this case seriously under Project Blue Book, officially classifying it as ‘unexplained’ after finding no evidence of a hoax. —Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025

This is not a hoax, Marina Lacerda, another of the survivors, said. —Emily Goodin, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

probably contraction of hocus

First Known Use

Verb

circa 1796, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1808, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for hoax

• blokes
• chokes
• cloaks
• coax
• cokes
• folks
• jokes
• oaks
• pokes
• smokes
• soaks
• spokes

Kids Definition

hoax

noun

ˈhōks

1

: an act intended to trick or deceive

2

: something false passed off or accepted as genuine

hoax verb

hoaxer noun