hokum

noun hokums · hocum

1. countable, informal, uncountable, usually (An instance of) meaningless nonsense with an outward appearance of being impressive and legitimate. Recently that publication [Collier's Weekly] has been filling its readers with the good old hokum about red likker and its steady disappearance, and if what has been offered be but half true, beer, light wine and all of the other beverages which have been tabooed by law, are on their way to that pla

   Similar: bunkum, absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and Betty Martin, apple grease, applesauce, bafflegab, balderdash, balls, baloney, banana oil, Bandini

2. countable, informal, uncountable, usually (An instance of) excessively contrived, hackneyed, or sentimental material in a film, television programme, theater production, etc. The majority of the twenty-six stunts described in this volume belong to a species of so-called hokum acts derived from the professional stage and handed down through several generations of actors.
3. countable, informal, usually A film, television programme, theater production, etc., containing excessively contrived, hackneyed, or sentimental material. [H]e [Stanley Baker] was still churning out the kind of Boy's Own hokums and dreary international espionage thrillers that defined that bygone era.
4. uncountable, usually A genre of blues song or music, often characterized by sexual innuendos or satire. [D]uring the 'twenties, jazz developed from an infrequent ‘hokum’ music in a few vaudeville acts to a household commodity.