Standard Lemma guide

hoopla

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈhuːplɑ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: HH UW1 P L AA2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A bustling to-do, excited speech or noise.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A carnival game in which the player attempts to throw hoops around pegs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

blatant or sensational promotion

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ballyhoo, hype, plug

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: promotion, publicity, promotional material, packaging

History

Etymology

Earlier houp-la, hoop la, first attested in c. 1877, probably from French houp-là, oup-là (“upsadaisy, upsy-daisy”), a cry to various animals close to humans like horses and dogs, of likely onomatopoeic origin (but see là). Compare interjections like whoop, ahoy, hoo.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: Bohei — clamour, brouhaha
  • German: Gedöns — clamour, brouhaha
  • German: Rummel — clamour, brouhaha
  • Macedonian: вре́ва (vréva) — clamour, brouhaha
  • Russian: кутерьма́ (kuterʹmá) — clamour, brouhaha
  • Russian: шуми́ха (šumíxa) — clamour, brouhaha
  • Russian: ажиота́ж (ažiotáž) — clamour, brouhaha
  • Greek: κρίκοι (kríkoi) — a carnival with throwing hoops