phew

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.

phew

/fjuː/
[ɸj̊u̥˥˩]
/fɪu̯/

Sounds like few · Rhymes with -uː

Where it comes from

Attested since the early 17th century. An onomatopoeia for rapid exhalation, as one may make when a trying situation is over, or in order to get rid of an unpleasant odour. Compare Scots feuch, Spanish fu, Czech fuj, and many more such forms.

interjection whew · pew

Used to express relief of tension, fatigue, or surprise. Phew, that took a long time to cook!
Similar: whew
Used to show disgust. Phew, it stinks in here!
Similar: yuck

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: oof, ooh, ugh, whew, yippee, haha, whoa, yay, yeah, woohoo, blimey, yep, ouch, jeez, geez, hmm

Translations

Every language

intj Used to show relief, fatigue, or surprise

Español	fíu, menos mal
한국어	후유 huyu, 휴 hyu, 어휴 eohyu, 에휴 ehyu
日本語	ふぅ fū
中文	喲 /哟 yo
Português	ufa
Français	pfou, ouf
Deutsch	puh, pfoah
Italiano	uff, uffa, uh
Ελληνικά	ουφ ouf, φου fou
Русский	уф! uf!, фуф fuf, фух fux
Tiếng Việt	phù
עברית	פיו fyu

intj Used to show disgust

Español	puaj
Français	pouah
Deutsch	pfui
עברית	איכס ikhs, פיכס fikhs, פויה fúya

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"phew." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/phew. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

phew. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/phew

Chicago

"phew." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/phew.

BibTeX

@misc{phew_2026,
  title = {phew},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/phew},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}