Definition of "hokum" []

• Something apparently impressive or legitimate but actually untrue or insincere; nonsense. (noun)
• A stock technique for eliciting a desired response from an audience. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He fought a long battle against what he called hokum, ideas with no basis, which gain spurious credibility by repetition (in the way that so many celebrities are celebrities for no other reason than that they are regarded as such by the media and society pop pundits)."
• "However this sort of hokum is not proscribed within the class CBlockbuster, is in fact a widely accepted strategy for achieving resolution."
• "What’s more, you’re “love it or leave it” hokum is the height of anti-American rhetorical irony."