The somewhat rare English word "bolus" means "a lump of something." It traces back through Latin to a Greek word meaning the same thing: "a lump of some material, like a clod of dirt." In English, going back to the 1600s, we've referred to lumps of medicine to be swallowed as boluses—and, later, we've used to same word for clumps of partially-chewed food.

Boluses: kind of gross, right?

So you can see why, possibly around the year 1847, someone invented the playful, fake-Latin term "holus-bolus," meaning "all at once: all in one big lump." It remains a weird and funny way to describe messy things that get "swallowed" (that is, believed, or accepted, or used up) all at once, or all in one go.

Part of speech:

Adverb: "They tried to shove that legislation through holus-bolus;" "We plopped down and watched Seasons 1-3 holus-bolus."

Other forms: 

You'll see it unhyphenated sometimes, too. I like the hyphen.

how to use it:

When you need a silly, pseudo-intellectual alternative to normal phrases like "all at once" and "all in one swallow," pick the kooky word "holus-bolus."

You might talk about people accepting, consuming, swallowing, or believing something holus-bolus: "Wow, they just accepted that whole flat-Earth theory holus-bolus, huh?"

Or, you might talk about people (or things) creating, spitting out, or (brace yourself) vomiting something holus-bolus: "Apparently, ChaptGPT upchucked this entire script holus-bolus."

examples:

"The dudes behind the 'comedy' podcast Dudesy released a 'George Carlin' comedy special that they claimed had been created, holus bolus, by an AI trained on the comedian's routines. This was a lie."
— Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic, 29 Jan 2024

"Before print media start falling holus-bolus into the arms of circling private-equity owners, maybe they ought to look into this whole not-for-profit thing."
— Richard Siklos, New York Times, 20 August 2006

has this page helped you understand "holus-bolus"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "holus-bolus" without saying "all at once" or "all in one gulp."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Something) seemed to be (copied, derived, or imported) holus-bolus from (something else)."

Example 1: "I'm not saying that David Kushner copied his song 'Daylight' holus-bolus from 'Take Me to Church' by Hozier. But they do sound extremely similar."

Example 2: "We are unlikely to solve persistent challenges, such as ensuring equitable access to well-coordinated care, with quick fixes.... Nor are they likely to be solved by reforms naïvely borne out of economic theory, or imported holus bolus from other countries."
— Anne-marie Boxall, The Conversation, 5 May 2014

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for March is "Tidbits and Titles: Books That Became Movies!"

I provide the tidbits; you provide the title. And every answer will be a book that has been made into a movie. To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Let's play!

Here's a quote from the book: "She reminded me that the world was really one bee yard, and the same rules work fine in both places. Don't be afraid, as no life-loving bee wants to sting you. Still, don't be an idiot; wear long sleeves and pants."

Here are some words and phrases that often appear in that book: Bed, beehive, dark, felt, Frogmore Stew, gonna, hair, honey house, jars, kitchen, laughed, Nat King Cole, peach, porch, skin, South Carolina, trees, wondered, yelled.

What's the book's title?

review this word:

1. The most precise opposite of HOLUS-BOLUS is

A. BITE BY BITE.
B. STEP BY STEP.
C. INCH BY INCH.

2. Knowing the meaning of "holus-bolus," you won't be surprised to note that Felonious Bolus, a character in the game Baldi's Basics, has _____.

A. the ability to make it rain Coca-Cola
B. a round, mushy, globular head (and no body)
C. buck teeth and perpetually concerned-looking eyebrows

Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. B Answer to the game question: The Secret Life of Bees.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.