hocus and pocus

Noun

hocus-pocus (usually uncountable, plural hocus-pocuses or hocus-pocusses or hoci-poci)

1. (usually) Some ineffectual action or speech, especially if intended to divert attention; nonsense.
2. (derogatory, usually) Religious or supernatural phenomena one holds to be nonsense or mere trickery; superstitious mumbo-jumbo.
   • How was it possible that I, a rational man, not unacquainted with the leading scientific facts of our history, and hitherto an absolute and utter disbeliever in all the hocus-pocus which in Europe goes by the name of the supernatural, could believe that I had within the last few minutes been...1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “A Soul in Hell”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 158
3. (US, also, attributive, countable, uncountable, usually) Some action carried out to bring about change as if by magic; a trick; sleight of hand, trickery.

   Synonyms:

   legerdemain, prestigiation, sleight of hand, conjuration, conjuring, dweomercraft, illusionism, jugglery, magic, palmistry

4. (countable, obsolete, usually) A conjurer.
5. (countable, obsolete, usually) A conjurer's trick.

See all 7 meanings of hocus-pocus