What does hoodooing mean?
Hoodooing means attacking a person or institution with harsh, hostile, and often persistent criticism. It is especially associated with political language in North America, where it describes a campaign of denunciation, intimidation, or character-based attacks aimed at an opponent. The word is more confrontational than “criticism” and usually implies that the criticism is excessive, malicious, or calculated to damage the target’s reputation. It can also have the older sense of practicing hoodoo, including magic believed to cause harm or misfortune, though this sense is uncommon in contemporary usage. In modern political discourse, hoodooing is generally informal rather than neutral: a speaker may use it to dismiss a rival’s attacks as spiteful or exaggerated. The expression conveys both the content of the attacks and the hostile attitude behind them, making it useful for describing rhetoric intended to vilify rather than persuade.
The act of attacking someone with harsh, hostile, and often repeated criticism, especially in political or public disputes.
"Election coverage focused more on partisan hoodooing than on the policy proposals."
Chiefly North American and informal; it generally carries a critical or dismissive connotation.
The practice of hoodoo, particularly magic believed to bring harm or misfortune.
"The story described the practice of hoodooing as something carried out in secret."
This sense is uncommon and may sound literary, regional, or historical.
Rare; the noun is normally used in the singular or as an uncountable gerund when referring to a single instance or type of attack.
"The newspaper described the two hoodooings as examples of coordinated political intimidation."
In political language, hoodooing turns a supposed curse into a campaign tactic: barrage an opponent with accusations and abuse.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of hoodooing
The precise origin of “hoodoo” is uncertain, and the word is often treated as a variant or altered form of “voodoo.” In the southern United States, it came to denote forms of ritual magic and harmful spiritual practice. By the early 20th century, especially in American political journalism, “hoodoo” was extended figuratively to mean malicious or systematic hostility, and its gerund “hoodooing” became common for this kind of verbal attack.
How hoodooing is actually used
The political sense is informal, adversarial, and especially common in North American journalistic and political language. It often implies hostile or exaggerated criticism rather than a measured disagreement. The older magical sense is much less common in modern English and may sound literary, regional, or context-dependent.
Easily confused with hoodooing
Hoodooing in modern political usage means harshly attacking someone with criticism, whereas voodoo primarily denotes a religion or body of religious and magical practices associated with the Caribbean and the southern United States.