One of the most common concepts Moroccans (and by extension Maghrebis) rely on to describe daily violence of the Moroccan state is the concept of hogra. This concept found in the precolonial lexicon of the region, has strangely been overlooked by historians and social scientists. Currently the term hogra has resurfaced as a major concept to rethink the violent practices of the makhzen (understood as the ensemble of institutions by which state legitimacy and hegemony are constituted and guarded). When the makhzan is described as haggar, the term hogra conveys then the meaning of illegitimate, yet pervasive violence of the state against the disadvantaged majority of the Moroccan society (often called wlaad shaab). Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to analyze the hogra as a specific violent practice of the makhzen. Using ethnographic materials collected during the time of the Arab Revolutions (2011-2012), my paper offers a rendition of the term hogra and attempts to articulate it as an operational concept by which one can examine the violent practice of the makhzen.