juju

See also: jujú, jùjú, jūjū, ju-ju, and jǔjǔ

English

Alternative forms

• ju-ju, jou-jou

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒuːd͡ʒu/, enPR: jo͞oʹjo͞o

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From a West African language, probably originally from French joujou.

Noun

juju (countable and uncountable, plural jujus)

1. (countable) A fetish or charm believed by West Africans to have magical or supernatural powers.
   • 1976 March 27, F. Dudley Hart, “History of the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis”, in British Medical Journal, volume 1, number 6012, →DOI, →JSTOR, page 763:

     Pendants round the neck, bangles round the wrists or ankles, potatoes or nutmegs in the pocket are as old or older than civilisation, carrying the same prophylactic magic as any juju in an African witchdoctor's armamentarium.

2. (uncountable) The magical or supernatural power of such a charm.
   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 168:

     They are believed to be "Ju-Ju" or were-leopards, and in this guise to roam through the forest in bands, bent on evil and destruction.

   • 2010, Jennifer Egan, “Selling the General”, in A Visit from the Goon Squad:

     The party had nominal hosts, all famous, but the real hostess, as everyone knew, was La Doll, who had more connections and access and juju than all of those people combined.

   • 2018, Mark Fisher, “it doesn't matter if we all die: the cure's unholy trinity”, in Darren Ambrose, editor, K-punk: the collected and unpublished writings of Mark Fisher (2004–2016), London: Repeater Books, →ISBN:

     The blues juju—or jou-jou—relies upon the enjoyment of desires that cannot be satisfied.

3. (informal) The (usually negative) karmic consequences of an action or behavior.

   That's some bad juju.

Derived terms

• jujuism
• jujuist
• jujuman

Etymology 2

Reduplication of -ju- in marijuana.

Noun

juju (plural jujus)

1. (slang) A marijuana cigarette; a joint.
   • 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 75:

     ‘I knew a guy once who smoked jujus,’ she said. ‘Three highballs and three sticks of tea and it took a pipe wrench to get him off the chandelier.’

Etymology 3

Noun

juju (uncountable)

1. Synonym of jùjú (“music genre”).