mumbo jumbo

mumbo jumbonoun/mʌmbəʊˈdʒʌmbəʊ/

• 1

  historicalA deity or other supernatural being said to have been worshipped by certain West African peoples; an idol.

  • So likewise a day comes when the Runic Thor, with his Eddas, must withdraw into dimness; and many an African Mumbo-Jumbo and Indian Pawpaw be utterly abolished.
• 2

  lifestylereligionAny object of superstition; religious words and/or actions which are seen as superstitious or fraudulent.

  • Rev. Quack's healing services are little more than mumbo jumbo.
  • Vera was made to dip her hand into the bird's blood and then make a handprint on a sheet of paper while the witches all chanted some mumbo-jumbo.
• 3

  Any confusing or meaningless speech; nonsense, gibberish.

  • Football lingo is mumbo jumbo to me.
  • He escaped from that experience confounded, horrified, and conscious of degradation. Those infernal bandogs of the law had treated him as a piece of insensate property to their drivelling mumbo-jumbo, as if mere contact with it had robbed him of all rights to the dignity and integrity of his own ego.