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woo

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woo¹

  • /wuː/

Rhymes with -uː

Where it comes from

From Middle English wowen, woȝen, from Old English wōgian (“to woo, court, marry”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots wow (“to woo”). Perhaps related to Old English wōg, wōh (“bending, crookedness”), in the specific sense of "bend or incline (some)one toward oneself". If so, then derived from Proto-Germanic *wanhō (“a bend, angle”), from Proto-Indo-European *wonk- (“crooked, bent”), from Proto-Indo-European *wā- (“to bend, twist, turn”); related to Old Norse vá (“corner, angle”).

verb woos · wooing · wooed · wo · wow

  1. transitive To endeavor to gain someone's affection or support. They're trying to woo the customers back with this new mobile plan.
  2. transitive Often of a man, to try to persuade (someone) to be in an amorous relationship with. Soo leue we syr Launcelot lyenge within that caue in grete payne / and euery day ther came a lady & brouȝt hym his mete & his drynke / & wowed hym to haue layne by hym / and euer the noble knyghte syre Launcelot sayd her nay. "So leave we Sir Launcelot lying within that cave in great pain; and every
  3. transitive To court solicitously; to invite with importunity; to solicit in love. Thee Chauntreſs oft the Woods among, / I woo to hear thy eeven Song;

    Similar: court

Similar: address, beau, bedear, chase after, endear, make a move (on), make love, pitch woo, put the moves on, romance, solicit, spark, woo

woo²

  • /wuː/

Rhymes with -uː

interjection

  1. alternative, informal Alternative spelling of whoo, expressing joy or excitement. "I got you a new cell phone." "Woo, that's great!"

woo³

  • /wuː/

Rhymes with -uː

adjective more woo · most woo

  1. alternative Alternative form of woo woo

noun

  1. alternative Alternative form of woo woo (“esoteric, pseudoscientific phenomena”). Physics hasn't been "looking" at it, certain men who embrace the Copenhagen Interpretation rather than Many Worlds or the Pilot Wave angles are resorting to woo.

Woo⁴

Where it comes from

From an irregular romanization of various Mandarin Chinese surnames including 吳／吴 (Wú), 伍 (Wǔ), 武 (Wǔ), and 巫 (Wū), or from Cantonese 胡 (wu4).

proper noun Woos · Wu

  1. A surname from Chinese.

Woo⁵

Where it comes from

From Korean 우 (u).

* (surname): from Korean 禹, 于

proper noun Woos · Ou · U · Wo · Wu

  1. A surname from Korean.

Thesaurus

verb

Similar: address, beau, bedear, chase after, endear, make a move (on), make love, pitch woo, put the moves on, romance, solicit, spark, woo

Translations

Every language

verb to endeavor to gain someone's affection/support

Españolcortejar, pololear, jotear, doñear
日本語求愛する kyūai surú
中文追求 zhuīqiú, 求愛 /求爱 qiú'ài
Portuguêscortejar
Françaiscourtiser, faire la cour (à)
Deutschumwerben
Italianocorteggiare, battere i pezzi
Ελληνικάκορτάρω kortáro
Românăcurta, face curte
Русскийуха́живать uxáživatʹ, сва́таться svátatʹsja, добива́ться расположе́ния dobivátʹsja raspoložénija
العربيةتَوَدَّدَ tawaddada
עבריתחיזר, חִזֵּר khizér

verb to try to persuade (someone) to be in an amorous relationship with

Deutschden Hof machen, umwerben

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{woo_2026,
  title = {woo},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/woo},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}