huh
Language: English
Part of speech: intj
Pronunciation: ipa: /hʌ/
ipa: [hʌ̃]
ipa: /hʌ/
ipa: [hʌ̃]
ipa: /hə/
ipa: [hə̃]
rhymes: -ʌ
Forms: form: hah
form: hunh
Etymology: Attested from circa 1600. Compare Dutch hè (“huh”).
Senses: examples: text: Huh? Where did they go?
glosses: Used to express doubt or confusion.
raw_tags: with rising pitch
examples: text: Huh! I'm sure I locked it when I left.
glosses: Used to express amusement or subtle surprise.
raw_tags: with falling pitch
examples: text: Where were you last night? Huh?
glosses: Used to reinforce a question.
raw_tags: with rising pitch
examples: text: (belittlement) A: "We should go to an amusement park, it would be fun." B: "Huh."
text: (agreement) A: "Murder is bad." B: "Huh!"
glosses: 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.
raw_tags: with falling pitch
examples: text: Huh? Could you speak up?
synonyms: come again
pardon
what
glosses: Used to indicate that one did not hear what was said.
raw_tags: with rising pitch
examples: text: It's getting kind of late, huh?
glosses: Used to create a tag question.
raw_tags: with falling pitch
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1980, Donald McCaig, The Butte Polka: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Rawson, Wade Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 251:
text: 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?!"
ref: 2019 May 15, Robert Purchese, quoting Marcin Iwiński, “Seeing Red: The story of CD Projekt”, in Eurogamer, archived from the original on 15 Sep 2023:
glosses: Representing the sound of heavy breathing.
examples: text: Mr. [Lambert] Wilson says this with a soft chuckle, sounding a bit like huh huh huh.
ref: 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 Dec 2016:
text: Helen starts laughing, properly now. Huh-huh-huh.
ref: 2017, Meg Howrey, The Wanderers, London […]: Scribner, →ISBN, page 173:
glosses: Representing a chuckling sound.
examples: text: Shawn quickly turns around and punches the pale hand, yelling "Huh! Huh! Hi yah'! Huh! Get off me! Yeah!"
ref: 1993, Ashaki Boelter, The Nok, Bend, O.R.: Shakalot High Entertainment, published 2006, →ISBN, page 69:
text: 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!"
ref: 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 Sep 2023:
text: 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.
ref: 2014, Larry Swartz, Dramathemes: Classroom Literacy that Will Excite, Surprise, and Stimulate Learning, Markham, Ont.: Pembroke Publishers Limited, →ISBN, pages 130-131:
text: HUH-HUH, HI-YAH!
ref: 2023, Dwayne Reed, Simon B. Rhymin' Gets in the Game, New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, unnumbered page:
topics: government
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
military
politics
sports
war
glosses: A kiai, shouted as a limb is swung in attack.
Derived terms: huh-uh
on the huh
uh-huh
uh huh
yeah-huh
yes-huh