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 of hoax

Verb

• trick
• fool
• deceive

Noun

• counterfeit
• fake
• sham
• forgery
• phony
• copy

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

Many Canadians began to feel as if they had been hoaxed. —David Frum, The Atlantic, 27 Dec. 2025

From 'interesting' to 'hoax': How Trump changed his tune on Epstein Huge trove of documents Even if some documents are withheld, the sheer volume of the Justice Department's records dump could be extraordinary. —Zac Anderson, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025

Noun

Trump has called the affordability argument from Democrats a Democratic hoax. —Dana Taylor, USA Today, 5 Jan. 2026

While it was initially claimed that the letter was legitimate, it was later confirmed to be a cruel hoax. —Makena Gera, PEOPLE, 4 Jan. 2026

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