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

Doxxed addresses have led to hoax 911 calls that prompted SWAT teams to raid victims’ homes. —Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 10 June 2024

Such criticism has led some police to respond more aggressively to hoax school shooting calls. —Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 5 Oct. 2023

Noun

Whiting insisted there was nothing to suggest the note Meyer's birth mom had left was a hoax. —Becca Longmire, People.com, 3 July 2025

That person later admitted in a Substack post that his claim to represent the band was itself a hoax. —Natalie Kainz, NBC news, 3 July 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