Word of the Day:

: to give a contrived, falsely impressive, or hokey quality to -- usually used with "up"

Sappy music and melodramatic acting combine to hoke up the movie's romance sequences.

"Hoke" is a back-formation of "hokum," which was probably created as a blend of "hocus-pocus" and "bunkum." "Hokum" is a word for the theatrical devices used to evoke a desired audience response. The verb "hoke" appeared in the early 20th century and was originally used (as it still can be today) when actors performed in an exaggerated or overly sentimental way. Today, it is often used adjectivally in the form "hoked-up," as in "hoked-up dialogue." The related word "hokey" was coined soon after "hoke" to describe things that are corny or phony.