hoopla

noun

plural hooplas
1
chiefly US, informal + often disapproving : excited or agitated commotion or activity : bustle
… make sure that children who have birthdays around the holidays don't get their birthday celebration lost in the holiday hoopla.Samara Kalk Derby
Seville is a place that offers many artists who call it home a chance to work quietly, away from the hoopla of Madrid.Deborah Gimelson
The reality star who each year makes a big hoopla as she turns one year older …Rebecca Cukier
also : agitated, excited, or angry discussion : fuss
… despite all the hoopla about susceptibility of automobile companies to … hacking, this is yet another … exploit that (would have) required hands-on intervention to succeed. David Booth
2
chiefly US, informal + often disapproving : extravagant promotion or publicity : ballyhoo
Watch out for hoopla surrounding the fourth Batman movie, which hits theaters this summer.Zillions
The November arrival of the nouveau on these shores … was accompanied by the normal amount of hoopla and hype intended to whip up consumer interest in the young wine.Terry Robards
also : an event or occasion featuring hoopla
Music fans have become incredibly savvy about the big live hooplas and announcements … Jim Carroll
"San Diego [Comic Con] is a big hoopla," [Alan] Pamoleras said … Jessica Dolcourt

Did you know?

In French, the interjection houp-là is used roughly the same way as English's upsy-daisy or whoops-a-daisy, as one might say when picking up a child. (This usage can be found in English, too, in such works as Booth Tarkington's The Magnificent Ambersons and James Joyce's Ulysses.) When the word was borrowed into American English, however, it was to refer to a kind of bustling commotion, and later, as a term for sensationalist hype. In the early 20th century, another hoopla was in use as well. Playing on the syllable hoop, that word gave its name to a ring-toss game played at carnivals.

Examples of hoopla in a Sentence

Many people have grown tired of all the hoopla surrounding the opening of the new theater. for all of the hoopla, very little news emerged from the governor's press conference this afternoon
Recent Examples on the Web Fret Zealot, a guitar education program, is partnering with hoopla Digital to put music lessons at the fingertips of Indianapolis library patrons. Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 25 Jan. 2024 With all of this Guinness World Record hoopla, and the blatant overstating of commercial personal conquests, has adventure tourism jumped the shark? Jim Clash, Forbes, 17 Feb. 2024 There’s been a lot of hoopla over whether or not Swift would make it to the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco ‘49ers to the point that the Japanese embassy stepped in to reassure. Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 11 Feb. 2024 Amid all the hoopla, the result almost didn’t matter, but the game ended in a 1-1 draw, with Messi scoring the tying goal from his knees in the second minute of stoppage time. Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024 Log into hoopla using your Indianapolis Public Library card and navigate to the BingePass section. Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Jan. 2024 But Kirkpatrick chalks all the UFO hoopla up to a top secret government program not to reverse-engineer alien ships, but to manufacture high-altitude metallic spy balloons. Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2024 Much of the hoopla surrounding Kernel has been focused on its investment in robotics. Sam Stone, Bon Appétit, 14 Feb. 2024 There’s been a lot of hoopla since the Oscar noms came out about the Greta Gerwig snub for best director. Esther Zuckerman, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hoopla.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French houp-là, interjection

First Known Use

1877, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hoopla was in 1877

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Dictionary Entries Near hoopla

Cite this Entry

“Hoopla.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoopla. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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