Huh
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
huh¹
- /hʌ/ UK
- [hʌ̃] UK
- /hʌ/ US
- [hʌ̃] US
- /hə/ US
- [hə̃] US
Rhymes with -ʌ
Where it comes from
Attested from circa 1600. Compare Dutch hè (“huh”).
interjection hah · hunh
- Used to express doubt or confusion. Huh? Where did they go?
- Used to express amusement or subtle surprise. Huh! I'm sure I locked it when I left.
- Used to reinforce a question. Where were you last night? Huh?
- 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."
- Used to indicate that one did not hear what was said. Huh? Could you speak up?
- Used to create a tag question. It's getting kind of late, huh?
- Representing the sound of heavy breathing. 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.
- Representing a chuckling sound. Mr. [Lambert] Wilson says this with a soft chuckle, sounding a bit like huh huh huh.
- A kiai, shouted as a limb is swung in attack. Shawn quickly turns around and punches the pale hand, yelling "Huh! Huh! Hi yah'! Huh! Get off me! Yeah!"
Huh²
- /ˈhʌ/
- /ˈhɜː/
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Korean 허(許) (Heo).
proper noun Huhs
- A surname from Korean.
HUH³
proper noun
- The station code of Hung Hom in Hong Kong.