as in magic
the art or skill of performing tricks or illusions for entertainment
with some well-crafted hocus-pocus, the illusionist made the dove disappear from his hands
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of hocus-pocus
No more hocus-pocus putting taxpayers on the hook for some sketchy deal that may or may not show a positive return in 15 years, if lucky.
—
U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2025
In both Joss Whedon's theatrical version and Zack Snyder's longer cut, Clark Kent is resurrected by some cosmic hocus-pocus housed in an alien Mother Box.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 July 2025
That's essentially what predictive AI does, minus the mystical hocus-pocus.
—Bernard Marr, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
So the hocus-pocus of GPT halting on my name is a rare but conspicuous leaf on a much larger tree of model control.
—Jonathan L. Zittrain, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024
One of the important things Conclave does is to slowly peel back archaic layers to reveal what all the hocus-pocus represents in this day and age.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2024
That's essentially what predictive AI does, minus the mystical hocus-pocus.
—Bernard Marr, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
In the years since bitcoin was introduced, digital payment systems that skip the hocus-pocus, like Venmo and Apple Pay, have become ubiquitous.
—Paul Krugman, The Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2024
There were a lot of hocus-pocus remedies like bee stings — pretty crazy things that were not going to help you.
—Degen Pener, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023
U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2025
In both Joss Whedon's theatrical version and Zack Snyder's longer cut, Clark Kent is resurrected by some cosmic hocus-pocus housed in an alien Mother Box.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 July 2025
That's essentially what predictive AI does, minus the mystical hocus-pocus.
—Bernard Marr, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
So the hocus-pocus of GPT halting on my name is a rare but conspicuous leaf on a much larger tree of model control.
—Jonathan L. Zittrain, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024
One of the important things Conclave does is to slowly peel back archaic layers to reveal what all the hocus-pocus represents in this day and age.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2024
That's essentially what predictive AI does, minus the mystical hocus-pocus.
—Bernard Marr, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
In the years since bitcoin was introduced, digital payment systems that skip the hocus-pocus, like Venmo and Apple Pay, have become ubiquitous.
—Paul Krugman, The Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2024
There were a lot of hocus-pocus remedies like bee stings — pretty crazy things that were not going to help you.
—Degen Pener, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hocus-pocus
magic
Noun
-
The good news is that top performers’ success isn’t magic, and their communication style can be learned.—
Melody Wilding,
CNBC,
14 Aug. 2025
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But a new study published in Science Advances suggests that part of metformin’s magic might be happening somewhere unexpected: in the brain.—
William A. Haseltine,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hocus-pocus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hocus-pocus. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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