• hah
• hunh

Attested fromcirca 1600. CompareDutchhè(“huh”).

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/hʌ/,[hʌ̃]

• Audio(Southern England,rising pitch):

  (file)

• Audio(Southern England,falling pitch):

  (file)

• Audio(Southern England,martial arts):

  (file)

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

  • Audio(California):

    (file)

• Rhymes:-ʌ

huh

1. (with rising pitch)Used to expressdoubt orconfusion.

   Huh? Where did they go?

2. (with falling pitch)Used to expressamusement or subtlesurprise.

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

3. (with rising pitch)Used toreinforce aquestion.

   Where were you last night?Huh?

4. (slang, with falling pitch)Used either tobelittle the issuer of a statement/question, orsarcastically to indicate utter agreement, and that the statement being responded to is an extremeunderstatement. The intonation is changed to distinguish between the two meanings - implieddullness for belittlement, andfeignedsurprise 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.

   Synonyms:come again,pardon,what;see alsoThesaurus:say again

   Huh? Could you speak up?

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

   It's getting kind of late,huh?

7. (onomatopoeia)Representing the sound of heavybreathing.
   • 1980,Donald McCaig,The Butte Polka: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Rawson, Wade Publishers, Inc.,→ISBN,page251:

     He broke into a dogtrot and ran by us. I don't think he saw us. His voice was coming in little puffs,huh,huh,huh, but he probably didn't notice that either.

   • 2019 May 15, Robert Purchese, quotingMarcin Iwiński, “Seeing Red: The story of CD Projekt”, inEurogamer‎^[1], archived fromthe original on15 September 2023:

     It was up so many flights of stairs that people would arrive for meetings drenched in sweat: "They were likehuhhuhhuh [panting] - where the hell are you?!"

8. (onomatopoeia)Representing achuckling sound.
   • 2010 December 7, Katherine Knorr, “Lambert Wilson: A Man of New Faith”, inThe New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.:The New York Times Company,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on19 December 2016:

     Mr.[Lambert] Wilson says this with a soft chuckle, sounding a bit likehuhhuhhuh.

   • 2017, Meg Howrey,The Wanderers, London […]:Scribner,→ISBN,page173:

     Helen starts laughing, properly now.Huh-huh-huh.

9. (martial arts)Akiai, shouted as a limb is swung in attack.
   • 1993, Ashaki Boelter,The Nok, Bend, O.R.: Shakalot High Entertainment, published2006,→ISBN,page69:

     Shawn quickly turns around and punches the pale hand, yelling "Huh!Huh! Hi yah'!Huh! Get off me! Yeah!"

   • 1995 October 5,Neal Pollack, quoting David Nelson, “King of the Creature Feature”, inChicago Reader‎^[3], Chicago, I.L.: Chicago Reader, Inc.,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on15 September 2023:

     He gets out of the chair, whips off his jacket, and starts closing in on the camera, punching rapidly as he moves. A left hook, a right jab. "Hey, I'm a boxer and a marine! So don't mess with me, man! Semper fi! Marine Corps! They better not mess with me! My critics better not mess with me, man, 'cause I'm gonna beat you up.Huh,huh,huh,huh,huh. Hmm, hmmm, hmm, hmmmm, heeeyah,huh,huh. Hmmm, yeah!"

   • 2014, Larry Swartz,Dramathemes: Classroom Literacy that Will Excite, Surprise, and Stimulate Learning, Markham, Ont.: Pembroke Publishers Limited,→ISBN,pages130-131:

     Student A has both arms outstretched in a karate motion and shouts out "HUH". Student B receives the sound by putting both arms straight in the air and yelling "HUH". Students on either side ofB giveB a karate chop by miming a sideways karate chop — without any touching.

   • 2023, Dwayne Reed,Simon B. Rhymin' Gets in the Game, New York, N.Y.:Little, Brown Books for Young Readers,→ISBN,unnumbered page:

     HUH-HUH, HI-YAH!

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

• uhh

• hiech,hieh(western Moselle Franconian)

FromOld High Germanhōh, fromProto-West Germanic*hauh, fromProto-Germanic*hauhaz.

• IPA^(key):/huː/

huh (masculinehuhe,femininehuh,comparativehüherorhühterorhieher,superlativeethühsteorhüchsteorhühtsteorhiehtste)

1. (Ripuarian, easternMoselle Franconian)high,tall

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

Possibly fromEnglishhuh.

• IPA^(key):/ɦʏ/

• Audio:

  (file)

huh

1. huh(an exclamation indicating puzzlement)

   Huh? Hoe kan dat?

   Huh? How is that possible?

• hè

Probably natural or onomatopoeic.

• IPA^(key):/ˈhuh/,[ˈhuh]
• Rhymes:-uh
• Syllabification^(key):huh
• Hyphenation^(key):huh

huh

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

• huh huh

• “huh”, inKielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki:Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland),2004–, retrieved2023-07-02

huh

1. Obsolete spelling ofjuuj.