Wiktionary

huh

See also: Huh, hūh, and HUH

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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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[1], 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.
  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[3], 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!

Derived terms

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Translations

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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

References

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Anagrams

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Central Franconian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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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

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

Inflection

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Inflection example for huh (Kölsch and central Ripuarian)
  masculine neuter feminine plural
positive
predicative / adverbial huh
common
case 		strong huhe huh
weak
partitive huhes —
dative
case 		initial huhem huher huhe
non-initial huhe
comparative
predicative / adverbial hüher
common
case 		strong hühere hüher
weak
partitive hüheres —
dative
case 		initial hüherem hüherer hühere
non-initial hühere
superlative
predicative / adverbial et hüchste
common
case 		strong hüchste
weak
dative
case 		initial hüchstem hüchster hüchste
non-initial hüchste
In this declension type, strong (indefinite) and weak (definite) forms are either not at all distinguished or by tone only. The partitive form follows certain indefinite pronouns like jet (“something”). In the singular dative, there is a simpler distinction between “initial” and “non-initial” position, depending on whether the adjective is the first declined word of the noun phrase or not.

Dutch

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Etymology

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Possibly from English huh.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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huh

  1. huh (an exclamation indicating puzzlement)
    Huh? Hoe kan dat?
    Huh? How is that possible?

See also

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Finnish

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Etymology

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Probably natural or onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

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

Interjection

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huh

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

Derived terms

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See also

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Further reading

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Yucatec Maya

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Noun

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huh

  1. Obsolete spelling of juuj.
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