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meh

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Meh, MEH, MÉH, méh, and -meh
Languages (14)
Translingual • English
Albanian • East Central German • Kholosi • Northern Kurdish • Pennsylvania German • Scots • Serbo-Croatian • Slovene • South Slavey • Spanish • Swedish • Zhuang
Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

meh

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Southwestern Tlaxiaco Mixtec.

See also

English

WOTD – 1 April 2009
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology 1

    Popularized by the American television show The Simpsons; first used on the show in the episode titled "Sideshow Bob Roberts" (1994). Possibly ultimately from Yiddish מע (me, “so-so”). First attested in 1928,[1] with usage as an interjection dated to 1992.[2]

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    meh (comparative more meh, superlative most meh)

    1. Mediocre; lackluster; unexceptional; uninspiring.
      • 2003, steve-o, “Jam On The River Mini-Review”, in rec.music.phish‎[2] (Usenet):
        They redeemed themselves with this show. The first song or two was meh, but they were on fire after that.
      • 2006, Suzanne D., “Recaps: Finals Week 8 Performances, 5/2/2006”, in alt.tv.american-idol‎[3] (Usenet):
        The voice is excellent as always, but the overall effect was meh until the end, where he became a little bit awesome.
      • 2006, FunkyM, “Turned on RAW for the first time in forever last night…”, in rec.sport.pro.wrestling‎[4] (Usenet):
        Nothing that was supposed to be big and exciting came off as such and the rest was meh at best.
    2. Apathetic; unenthusiastic.
      • 2003, Dana, “10/18/03 Shows”, in alt.tv.trading-spaces‎[5] (Usenet):
        Both shows left me feeling, meh.
      • 2004, jennifer, “The FANtasia thing: I don’t get it…”, in alt.gossip.celebrities‎[6] (Usenet):
        I’m a huge Clay fan, love Ruben’s voice, and have become quite a fan of Kelly’s, as well. Fantasia just leaves me feeling meh.
      • 2006, ettie...@hotmail.com, “Steve’s impressions on random Genesis games”, in rec.games.video.sega‎[7] (Usenet):
        I liked it but I wasn’t feeling it for some reason that day, again, I was feeling meh toward video games in general.
    Translations

    Interjection

    meh

    1. (slang) Expressing indifference or lack of enthusiasm.
      “What do you want for dinner?” — “Meh. I’m not really hungry.”
      “That film was awesome!” — “Meh. I’ve seen better.”
      • 1995 March 19, “Lisa's Wedding”, in The Simpsons:
        Marge: [weaving on a loom] “Hi Bart, I’m weaving on a loom!”
        Bart: “Meh”.
      • 2014 September 7, Natalie Angier, “The Moon comes around again [print version: Revisiting a moon that still has secrets to reveal: Supermoon revives interest in its violent origins and hidden face, International New York Times, 10 September 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times‎[8]:
        Scientists say that while the public may think of the moon as a problem solved and a bit retro – the place astronauts visited a half-dozen times way back before Watergate and then abandoned with a giant "meh" from mankind – in fact, lunar studies is a vibrant enterprise that is yielding a wealth of surprises.
    Synonyms
    Translations
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Noun

    meh

    1. (informal) A judgement marked by indifference; lack of impression.

    Etymology 2

      From Cantonese 咩 (me1, final particle used to make doubtful yes–no questions).

      Pronunciation

      Particle

      meh (Manglish, Singlish)

      2. (interrogative) Final question particle expressing skepticism.
        Really meh? ― Really? I don’t think so.
        This one your one meh? ― Is this really yours?
        • 2010 August 22, Fiona Chan, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 13:
          You got send [e-mail] meh? I never receive leh.
        • 2013 October 7, Tee Hun Ching, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 12:
          “Nice meh?” I would think sourly.
        • 2020, Yasser Khan, Property Agent Secrets: The Underground Playbook For Growing Your Property Agent Business in 2021 & Beyond‎[9], →ISBN, page 123:
          "Huh? At this hour? Really meh?" He couldn't believe his own ears.
        • 2024 March 28, Benjamin Tan, “In Their Own Skin: Portraits of Eczema in Singapore”, in ricemedia.co‎[10], archived from the original on 26 November 2024:
          Not pain, meh. When you have eczema and do tattoos?
      See also
      Discourse particles in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English
      ⟵ More assertiveLess assertive ⟶
      Objection what Assertive emphasis lah1–14 Self-evident answer lor2–3 Resignation lor1, ah6–7 Uncertainty leh1–2
      Self-evident reason mah Declarative emphasis leh3–6, one1–3, hor1, know, nia, only Discontent; shock; coarseness sia Agreement-seeking hor2 Confirmation-seeking ah1–3, hah1–3
      Skepticism meh Confident speculation ba2 Tentative judgment leh7–11, ba1
      Non-pragmatic
      Aspectual liao, already
      References
      • Gupta, A. F. (1992), “The pragmatic particles of Singapore colloquial English”, in Journal of Pragmatics, volume 18, number 1, →DOI

      Etymology 3

        Onomatopoeic.[3]

        Interjection

        meh

        1. A bleating sound, as that of a sheep or goat.
          Synonym: maa
          • 2017, Amanda Craig, The Lie of the Land, London: Little, Brown, →ISBN, page 318:
            'Mehh,' they say to the ewes, and the ewes answer, ¶ 'Meeehh.''Mheh.''Meh-meh.'
          • 2020, Heather Blake, A Witch to Remember, New York, N.Y.: Crooked Lane, →ISBN, page 139:
            Cookie was bouncing around stacks of brightly colored tires, mehhing happily, while Scal stood on one end of a teeter-totter like he was king of the world.

        References

        1. ^ “A 1928 Yiddish-English-Hebrew Dictionary May Be the First Official Record of “Meh””, in Smithsonian Magazine, 9 September 2013
        2. ^ Liberman, Mark (13 October 2025), “Meh”, in Language Log‎[1], University of Pennsylvania, retrieved 15 October 2025
        3. ^ “mehh, int. and v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

        Further reading

        • Lim, L. (November 2007), “Mergers and acquisitions: On the ages and origins of Singapore English particles”, in World Englishes, volume 26, number 4, →ISSN, pages 446-473
        • Leimgruber, J. (October 2015), “Bah in Singapore English”, in World Englishes‎[11], volume 35, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN
        • Lim, L. (2004), Singapore English: A grammatical description‎[12], John Benjamins Publishing, →ISBN, page 121

        Anagrams

        Albanian

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        Alternative forms

        Etymology

        From Proto-Albanian *meuska, from Proto-Indo-European *mewH- (compare Latvian maût (“to submerge”), Serbo-Croatian mȉti (“to wash”)).

        Verb

        meh (aorist meha)

        1. to soak

        East Central German

        Etymology

        From Middle High German mēre, from Old High German mēro, from Proto-West Germanic *maiʀō, from Proto-Germanic *maizô, from Proto-Indo-European *mē- (“many”).

        Adjective

        meh

        1. (Erzgebirgisch) more

        Adverb

        meh

        1. (Erzgebirgisch) any longer
        2. (Erzgebirgisch) more
        3. (Erzgebirgisch) anymore

        Further reading

        • Hendrik Heidler (11 June 2020), Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch‎[13] (in German), 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 84

        Kholosi

        Etymology

        From Sanskrit मेघ (megha, “cloud”).

        Noun

        meh ?

        1. rain

        References

        • Eric Anonby; Hassan Mohebi Bahmani (2014), “Shipwrecked and Landlocked: Kholosi, an Indo-Aryan Language in South-west Iran”, in Cahier de Studia Iranica xx‎[14], pages 13-36

        Northern Kurdish

        Etymology

        From Proto-Iranian *mā́Hah (compare Persian ماه (mâh), Ossetian мӕй (mæj), Avestan 𐬨𐬃 (mā̊), 𐬨𐬀𐬊𐬢𐬵 (maoŋh)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *mā́Has (compare Sanskrit मास (mā́sa)), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon; month”) (compare Albanian muaj, Armenian ամիս (amis), French mois, Tocharian A mañ, English moon).

        Pronunciation

        Noun

        meh f

        1. month

        Pennsylvania German

        Etymology

        From Middle High German mēr, from Old High German mēro. Compare German mehr, Dutch meer, English more.

        Pronunciation

        Adjective

        meh

        1. more

        Adverb

        meh

        1. any longer
        2. more
        3. anymore

        Scots

        Etymology

        Dialectal representation of ma.

        Pronunciation

        Determiner

        meh

        1. (Dundee) my
          Synonyms: ma, wir
          Eh hud meh eh on a peh. ― I had my eye on a pie.

        Serbo-Croatian

        Alternative forms

        Etymology

        Inherited from Proto-Slavic *měxъ.

        Pronunciation

        Noun

        mȇh m inan (Cyrillic spelling ме̑х) (Ekavian)

        1. blower, bellows
        2. goatskin, wineskin

        Declension

        Declension of meh
        singular plural
        nominative mȇh mȅhovi
        genitive meha mehova
        dative mehu mehovima
        accusative meh mehove
        vocative mehu / meše mehovi
        locative mehu mehovima
        instrumental mehom mehovima

        Slovene

        Etymology

        From Proto-Slavic *měxъ

        Pronunciation

        Noun

        mẹ̑h m inan

        1. bellows

        Declension

        		 The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
        Masculine inan., hard o-stem, plural in -ôv-
        nom. sing. méh
        gen. sing. méha
        singular dual plural
        nominative
        (imenovȃlnik)         		méh mehôva mehôvi
        genitive
        (rodȋlnik)         		méha mehôv mehôv
        dative
        (dajȃlnik)         		méhu mehôvoma mehôvom
        accusative
        (tožȋlnik)         		méh mehôva mehôve
        locative
        (mẹ̑stnik)         		méhu mehôvih mehôvih
        instrumental
        (orọ̑dnik)         		méhom mehôvoma mehôvi

        Further reading

        • “meh”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
        • “meh”, in Termania, Amebis
        • See also the general references

        South Slavey

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): [mɛ̀(h)]
        • Hyphenation: meh

        Noun

        meh

        1. Fort Liard form of mbeh

        Inflection

        Possessive inflection of meh (-mehé)
        singular plural
        1st person semehé naxemehé
        2nd person nemehé
        3rd person 1) — gimehé
        2) memehé gomehé
        4th person yemehé
        reflexive sp. ɂedemehé kedemehé
        unsp. demehé
        reciprocal — ɂełemehé
        indefinite ɂemehé
        areal gomehé

        1) Used when the subject is a group of human beings
        and the object is singular.
        2) Used when the previous condition does not apply.

        References

        • Keren Rice (1989), A Grammar of Slave, Berlin, West Germany: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 11

        Spanish

        Interjection

        meh

        1. meh

        Swedish

        Etymology 1

        Possibly derived from men (“but, wait, seriously”, interjection).

        Alternative forms

        Interjection

        meh

        1. (colloquial) Signaling disappointment or frustration about something; but, wait, seriously, come on.
          Meh! Har de inte slagit in presenten?
          Seriously? They didn’t wrap the present?

        Etymology 2

        Unadapted borrowing from English meh.

        Adjective

        meh

        1. meh (mediocre, lackluster)

        Zhuang

        Etymology

        From Proto-Tai *meːᴮ (“mother”). Cognate with Thai แม่ (mɛ̂ɛ), Northern Thai ᨾᩯ᩵, Lao ແມ່ (mǣ), Lü ᦶᦙᧈ (mae¹), Shan မႄႈ (māae), Ahom 𑜉𑜦𑜧 (mē), Bouyei meeh.

        Pronunciation

        Noun

        meh (Sawndip forms 𭑫 or 姆 or 𫰤 or 𭒛 or 㜆, 1957–1982 spelling meƅ)

        1. mother
          Synonym: daxmeh
        2. woman; female

        Classifier

        meh (1957–1982 spelling meƅ)

        1. Used for adult women who have given birth.
        2. Used for female animals that have given birth or laid eggs.

        Adjective

        meh (1957–1982 spelling meƅ)

        1. main; principal

        Derived terms

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