hooray

English

Alternative forms

• hurray, hurrah, huzzah, hoorah, hooroo

Etymology

Unknown, first attested in the late 17th c. Possible etymologies:

• Alteration of huzzah. This is however questionable.
• From hurra in German, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian, húrra in Icelandic, hoera in Dutch.

Pronunciation

• (approval, joy, victory): IPA^(key): /həˈɹeɪ/, /hʊˈɹeɪ/
• (goodbye): IPA^(key): /ˈhuːɹeɪ/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

Interjection

hooray

1. Used to express approval, joy or victory.

   Lizzie has broken a world record, and she is now an Olympic medallist! – Hooray!

2. (Australia, colloquial) goodbye.
   • 2026 April 18, Janet Albrechtsen, “The Good, the Bad and the (Ugly): Why Pauline Hanson’s influence has never been stronger”, in The Australian‎^[1]:

     “And I told him, ‘I even guarantee I’ll take (the girl) to the airport and put her on a plane and wave, Hooray’.”

Synonyms

• (expression of approval): see Thesaurus:well done
• (expression of joy): see Thesaurus:yay

Derived terms

• boo-hooray
• hip hip hooray
• hooray for Hollywood

Translations

elated expression of approval

• Asturian: ixuxú, viva (ast)
• Bulgarian: ура́ (urá)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 好哇 (zh) (hǎowā), 萬歲 / 万岁 (zh) (wànsuì)

• Czech: hurá (cs)
• Dutch: hoera (nl)
• Esperanto: hura (eo)
• Finnish: hurraa (fi)
• French: hourra !
• Galician: viva! (gl)
• Georgian: ურა (ura), ვაშა (vaša)
• German: hurra!
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἀλαλαί (alalaí), ἰή (iḗ)

• Hebrew: הֵידָד (he) (hēdád), הֶאָח (he) (heáẖ)
• Icelandic: húrra!
• Ingrian: urraa
• Irish: abú
• Italian: urrà, evviva
• Japanese: やった (ja) (yatta), 万歳 (ja) (ばんざい, banzai)
• Kazakh: алақай (alaqai)
• Korean: 만세(萬歲) (ko) (manse)
• Latin: euge
• Lithuanian: valio
• Māori: hūrē
• Norwegian: hurra
• Polish: hura (pl)
• Portuguese: viva! (pt)
• Russian: ура́ (ru) (urá), сла́ва (ru) (sláva)
• Scottish Gaelic: hò-rò!
• Spanish: ¡hurra!, ¡viva!, olé (es)
• Swedish: hurra (sv)
• Turkish: hurra (tr)
• Ukrainian: ура́ (urá), сла́ва (uk) (sláva)
• Vietnamese: hoan hô (vi), vạn tuế (vi) (萬歲)

Noun

hooray (plural hoorays)

1. A shout to signify victory.
2. An expression of excitement.
3. (UK, colloquial, derogatory) Ellipsis of Hooray Henry.
   • 2017 November 26, Kevin Rushby, “Caribbean dream: mixing it up in the Grenadines”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     The Caribbean isn’t just for minor royals and hedge-fund hoorays. […] But the hurricanes had not struck the southern Caribbean (they rarely do), and the hedge fund hoorays were clearly confined to Mustique.

Translations

a shout to signify victory

• Galician: viva (gl)
• German: Hurra (de) n
• Norwegian: hurra n
• Portuguese: viva (pt) m
• Swedish: hurrarop n

an expression of excitement

• Dutch: hoera (nl)
• Galician: viva! (gl)
• German: Hurra (de) n
• Māori: hūrē, hūrē
• Norwegian: hurra n
• Portuguese: viva (pt) m
• Swedish: hurra (sv) n, hurrarop n

Verb

hooray (third-person singular simple present hoorays, present participle hooraying, simple past and past participle hoorayed)

1. To shout an expression of excitement.

Synonyms

• hurrah

Translations

to shout an expression of excitement

• German: Hurra rufen
• Māori: hūrē, hūrē
• Norwegian: rope hurra
• Portuguese: vivar (pt)
• Swedish: hurra (sv)

Anagrams

• yarooh