hojear

What does “hojear” mean in English?

1. to browse, to leaf through

   to browse, to leaf through (physical pages of a book, magazine, or catalogue)

Example sentences

• Llegué pronto a la cita y me puse a hojear las revistas que había en la sala de espera.

  I arrived early for the appointment and started leafing through the magazines in the waiting room.

• Hojeé el catálogo antes de entrar a la tienda para hacerme una idea de los productos disponibles.

  I flipped through the catalogue before going into the shop to get an idea of the products available.

• El inspector hojeó el expediente rápidamente antes de la reunión, sin tiempo para leerlo con detenimiento.

  The inspector quickly leafed through the dossier before the meeting, without time to read it carefully.

How to use it

Hojear means 'to leaf through', 'to browse', or 'to skim through' a physical book, magazine, or product display. The base noun is hoja (leaf/page). It implies casual, non-linear reading — you flip through pages without reading in full. Use it for bookshops, libraries, or newsstands: hojear una revista (browse a magazine), hojear las novedades (look through the new releases). Don't confuse with leer (to read in full) or echar un vistazo (to have a quick look — broader).