hoax

hoax — noun

1. a false story, piece of information, or situation that someone creates deliberat

1.nounB2
Definition

a false story, piece of information, or situation that someone creates deliberately to trick people into accepting it as real

Example

Salma realised the story about a haunted house was a hoax after she checked online.

hoax about [topic] — common noun pattern

The radio station accidentally broadcast a hoax weather warning, scaring many people.

Common collocations
  • perpetrate a hoax
  • a hoax caller
  • a hoax email
  • hoax threat
  • elaborate hoax
Synonyms
  • trick

    more general and often playful; a trick can be harmless or malicious

  • fraud

    more serious, involving crime or financial gain; stronger negative connotation

  • deception

    broader term for any act of making someone believe something false

  • prank

    lighter and playful; usually designed to cause embarrassment, not serious harm

Antonyms
  • truth

    something that is factually correct and verified

  • fact

    a piece of information confirmed by evidence

Grammar Patterns

a + hoax

hoax + about + [topic]

Common Mistakes

The surprise party was a hoax.
The surprise party was a prank.
A hoax involves deliberate deception about something false being presented as true, often to many people; a prank is a trick played for fun, usually harmless and obvious.

hoax — verb

Word family

  • hoaxer
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Hoax, trick, fraud, and prank all involve deception, but they differ in seriousness and scope. A hoax is a deliberate false story or situation spread to deceive many people — for example, a fake news article about a celebrity death. A trick is a more general act of deception, often playful and aimed at one person, like hiding a friend's keys. A fraud is a serious crime involving cheating for money or gain, such as a fake investment scheme. A prank is a light-hearted trick played for amusement, usually harmless and obvious to the victim afterwards, like putting a fake spider on a chair. Of these, only hoax and fraud have strong negative connotations; trick and prank are often neutral or humorous.

hoax ↗trick ↗fraud ↗prank ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • elaborately hoaxed
  • successfully hoaxed

Prepositions

  • hoax about
  • hoax into

Etymology

English slanghocus (from hocus-pocus)English

The word 'hoax' first appeared in English in the late 1700s as a verb meaning 'to deceive'. It is thought to come from 'hocus', a shortened form of 'hocus-pocus' — the phrase magicians used while performing tricks, which itself may have been a mock-Latin imitation of a Catholic Mass phrase. Over time, 'hoax' shifted from stage magic to any deliberate act of deception.