hacky sack

noun

A game or activity in which one or a group of players try to keep a footbag off the ground using only their feet.

Meanings

nounhacky sack (countable and uncountable, plural hacky sacks)

plural hacky sacks · alternative hackysack · alternative hackeysack · alternative hacky-sack · alternative Hacky-Sack

  1. uncountablegamesA game or activity in which one or a group of players try to keep a footbag off the ground using only their feet.
  2. countableThe footbag used for such a game.
    1 more example

    At the food court, I bought a turkey sandwich and another coffee. As I ate, an entourage caught my eye: four Buddhist monks, camped at the periphery of the food court seats, about thirty feet away. Shaved heads, maroon and pumpkin-colored robes. Each was smiling, even the one who slept. You'd think monks would be wearing sandals, wouldn't you? But these guys were wearing what I wear: Nike sneakers, Timberland boots. Two were horsing around with a Hacky Sack. Another was chatting quietly with a black woman in a Chicago Bulls sweatshirt.

    2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.3, at p.74

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

Genericized trademark of Wham-O. First attested in c. 1977. It uses a reduplication of the word sack with the word hacky; a hack, in the game's terminology, is akin to a point, and happens when every player in a group successfully passes the footbag.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Russian сокс
  • сокс (soks)game
Cite this entry
APA

hacky sack. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hacky%20sack

MLA

“hacky sack.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hacky%20sack. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hacky sack,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hacky%20sack.

Source: hacky sack on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.