What does hoax mean?
Word: Hoax
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Hoax means something said or done to make people believe a story that is not true, often as a joke.
How do you spell hoax?
Syllables: hoax
Tricky part: The ks sound at the end is spelt with a single x; ks, cks and kes are all wrong here.
Watch out for: hoaks, hoacks
Memory tip: A hoax is a fox's sort of trick, and like fox it ends in one plain x.
Hoax in a sentence
Example 1: The message about a surprise holiday on Monday was only a hoax.
Example 2: Scientists showed that the giant footprint in the snow was a hoax made with a carved board.
Example 3: The gold coin found in the playground was a hoax: it was chocolate wrapped in foil.
Fun Fact
In 1957 a BBC television programme showed a famous April Fool's Day hoax: Swiss farmers seemingly harvesting spaghetti from trees.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The video of a flying elephant over London turned out to be a clever hox.
a) hox
b) clever
c) elephant
d) flying
Show answer
a) hox. The word needs an a after the o, the same oa as in boat and coat.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
xoah
a) hoard
b) hoax
c) coax
d) oath
Show answer
b) hoax. An h and an x both appear in the jumble, and only one option has both in four letters.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
hoax
a) promise
b) prank
c) praise
d) proof
Show answer
b) prank. A prank is a trick played for fun, close to a hoax; proof, praise and a promise are all things you can trust.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) hoax
b) gullable
c) rumour
d) mischief
Show answer
b) gullable. Gullible ends in ible, not able.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Rohan's friends found out that the 'talking parrot' video was a hoax. What did they learn?
a) it had won a prize
b) it had been filmed abroad
c) it had been faked
d) it had been made last year
Show answer
c) it had been faked
2. What should you do if you suspect a message is a hoax?
a) check it with a trusted source
b) share it with all your friends
c) copy it into your notebook
d) reply with your home address
Show answer
a) check it with a trusted source
