huh

See also: Huh and hūh

English

Etymology

Attested from circa 1600.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hʌ/, [hʌ̃]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /hə/, [hə̃]

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌ

Interjection

huh

1. (with falling pitch) used to express amusement or subtle surprise.

   Huh! I'm sure I locked it when I left.

2. Used to express doubt or confusion.

   Huh? Where did they go?

3. (with rising pitch) Used to reinforce a question.

   Where were you last night? Huh?

4. (slang, with falling pitch) Used either to belittle the issuer of a statement/question, or sarcastically to indicate utter agreement, and that the statement being responded to is an extreme understatement. The intonation is changed to distinguish between the two meanings - implied dullness for belittlement, and feigned surprise for utter agreement.

   (belittlement) A:"We should go to an amusement park, it would be fun." B:"Huh."

   (agreement) A""Murder is bad." B:"Huh!"

5. (informal, with rising pitch) Used to indicate that one did not hear what was said.

   Huh? Could you speak up?

6. (informal, with falling pitch) Used to create a tag question.

   It's getting kind of late, huh?

Translations

to express amusement or subtle surprise

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嗯 (zh) (ēn), 哼 (zh) (hēng)

• Finnish: häh (fi), höh (fi)
• Japanese: え (ja) (e), えっ (ja) (e')
• Luganda: eh eh

• Norwegian: hva (no)
• Portuguese: puxa (pt), eta (pt), eita (pt), caramba (pt)
• Russian: а (ru) (a), что (ru) (što), да (ru) (da), да ну (da nu) (in questions), ха (ru) (xa) (in statements)
• Swedish: vad (sv), vad nu
• Vietnamese: ủa (vi)

expressing doubt or confusion

• Cebuano: ha
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嘿 (zh) (hēi)

• Dutch: hè (nl)
• Finnish: häh (fi), höh (fi)
• French: hein (fr)
• German: hä (de), häh

• Italian: eh (it)
• Japanese: へえ (hē), え (ja) (e), よ (ja) (yo), ぞ (ja) (zo)
• Korean: 어 (ko) (eo)
• Portuguese: ué (pt), como (pt), hã
• Russian: что (ru) (što), а (ru) (a), да (ru) (da) (with special intonation)
• Swedish: vad (sv)
• Vietnamese: ủa (vi)

to reinforce a question

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 呢 (zh) (ne), 啊 (zh) (à, a)

• Danish: æh
• Dutch: hè (nl), nou (nl)
• Finnish: täh, mitä (fi)
• French: hein (fr)
• German: hä (de)

• Japanese: ね (ja) (ne), な (ja) (na)
• Portuguese: hein (pt), hã, hein (pt)
• Romanian: a (ro)
• Russian: а (ru) (a), да (ru) (da)
• Spanish: eh (es)
• Vietnamese: hả (vi)

"I know, huh" what huh

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 啊 (zh) (à)

• Finnish: joo (fi)

• Portuguese: dã, não brinca
• Russian: да (ru) (da), угу́ (ru) (ugú) (first meaning), ага́ (ru) (agá) (both meanings)

to indicate that one didn't hear

• Dutch: hè (nl), wat (nl)
• Finnish: häh (fi), täh
• French: hein (fr)
• German: hä (de), häh, wie (de), was (de)
• Icelandic: ha (is)

• Japanese: え (ja) (e), えっ (ja) (e')
• Portuguese: hã, hem (pt), como (pt)
• Russian: что (ru) (što), а (ru) (a)
• Swedish: vad (sv), hur sa (sv)
• Vietnamese: cái gì

tag question

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嗎 (zh), 吗 (zh) (ma), 呢 (zh) (ne), 嘛 (zh) (ma)

• French: hein (fr)
• Japanese: ね (ja) (ne), か (ja) (ka)

• Norwegian: eller hva
• Russian: а (ru) (a), да (ru) (da)
• Swedish: eller hur (sv)
• Vietnamese: nhỉ (vi), nhể (vi), nhở (vi), à (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Cherokee: ^{(please verify)} hv (hv)

• Vietnamese: (3) ^{(please verify)} a! (vi)

References

• “huh”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

• uhh

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Central Franconian

Alternative forms

• hiech, hieh (western Moselle Franconian)

Etymology

From Old High German hōh, from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /huː/

Adjective

huh (masculine huhe, feminine huh, comparative hüher or hühter or hieher, superlative et hühste or hüchste or hühtste or hiehtste)

1. (Ripuarian, eastern Moselle Franconian) high; tall

Usage notes

• The comparation forms with -ü- are Ripuarian, those with -ie- are Moselle Franconian.

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Finnish

Interjection

huh

1. phew (used to show relief, fatigue, or surprise)