huh

• hah
• hunh

Attested from circa 1600. Compare Dutch hè (“huh”).

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

  • Audio (US, California)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌ

• Audio (Southern England, rising pitch)

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England, falling pitch)

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England, martial arts)

  (file)

huh

1. (with rising pitch) Used to express doubt or confusion.

   Huh? Where did they go?

2. (with falling pitch) Used to express amusement or subtle surprise.

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

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.

   Synonyms: come again, pardon, what; see also Thesaurus:say again

   Huh? Could you speak up?

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

   It's getting kind of late, huh?

7. (onomatopoeia) Representing the sound of heavy breathing.
   • 1980, Donald McCaig, The Butte Polka: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Rawson, Wade Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 251:

     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, quoting Marcin Iwiński, “Seeing Red: The story of CD Projekt”, in Eurogamer‎, archived from the original on 15 September 2023:

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

8. (onomatopoeia) Representing a chuckling sound.
   • 2010 December 7, Katherine Knorr, “Lambert Wilson: A Man of New Faith”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 December 2016:

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

   • 2017, Meg Howrey, The Wanderers, London […]: Scribner, →ISBN, page 173:

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

9. (martial arts) A kiai, shouted as a limb is swung in attack.
   • 1993, Ashaki Boelter, The Nok, Bend, O.R.: Shakalot High Entertainment, published 2006, →ISBN, page 69:

     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”, in Chicago Reader‎, Chicago, I.L.: Chicago Reader, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 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, pages 130-131:

     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 of B give B 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”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

• uhh

• hiech, hieh (western Moselle Franconian)

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

• IPA^(key): /huː/

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

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

Possibly from English huh.

• 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

huh

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

• huh huh

• “huh”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

huh

1. Obsolete spelling of juuj