Standard Lemma guide

eh

adj · adv · intj · name · noun · particle · symbol · verb · 19 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, England: ā
  • Canada, England: /eɪ/
  • Scotland: /e/
  • Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪ
  • Canada, UK, US: ĕ
  • Canada, UK, US: â
  • Canada, UK, US: /ɛ/
  • Canada, UK, US: [ɛː]
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛ
  • [ˈe˦˧] Sense 1
  • [ˈe˧]
  • [eɪ˧˨] Sense 2
  • [eɪ˩˦] Sense 3
  • /eɪ/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • homophone: A
  • CMU ARPABET: EH1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of mediocre quality; unremarkable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, not-comparable, predicative

Examples

  • My French fries were eh.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Initialism of emotionally handicapped.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adv

Meaning 3

Used to negate the following verb; (am/are/is/do/does) not.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Caribbean, Singapore, Trinidad-and-Tobago, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

intj

Meaning 4

Used as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, Canada, Commonwealth, Hong-Kong, India, Ireland, New-Zealand, Singapore, South-Africa, UK, informal

Qualifier: Upper Midwestern US

Examples

  • These hot dogs are pretty good, eh?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

intj

Meaning 5

In isolation, a request for repetition or clarification of what has just been said.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • —I've been studying Graphiurus murinus. —Eh? Studying what?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: what, pardon, sorry, come again

Antonyms: none provided

6

intj

Meaning 6

In isolation, expressing surprise or confusion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • —You're going to be a dad! —Eh? You're joking!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: what, wha, huh, za, sorry, come again

Antonyms: none provided

7

intj

Meaning 7

An interjection used to ascertain the continued attention of someone addressed by the speaker.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Canada

Examples

  • I went to the restaurant, eh, but my friends didn't show up.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: y'know

Antonyms: none provided

8

intj

Meaning 8

Expressing apathy or lack of enthusiasm; meh.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • —Do you feel like going out tonight? —Eh, I don't know.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

intj

Meaning 9

Expressing apprehension following or preceding a reasoning or excuse; uh.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Philippines

Examples

  • —Why is it like this? —Eh, It's like that eh.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

intj

Meaning 10

Hey, oi; said to get someone's attention.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Singapore, Singlish, impolite, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

intj

Meaning 11

An interjection expressing disapproval.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Singapore

Examples

  • Eh, please don’t say that...

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

intj

Meaning 12

Huh?; expresses confusion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Singapore

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

intj

Meaning 13

an attention grabber

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Multicultural-London-English, Singapore

Qualifier: regional African-American Vernacular

Examples

  • Eh, come here!
  • Eh, what do you have?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hey, oi, I say

Antonyms: none provided

14

intj

Meaning 14

A greeting between friends (typically male) or display of approval.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, Singapore, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

name

Meaning 15

Initialism of Eastern Hemisphere (travel within or between IATA areas 2 and 3).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

Topics: aeronautics, aerospace, aviation, business, engineering, lifestyle, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, tourism, transport, travel

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

16

noun

Meaning 16

Initialism of epididymal hypertension.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

17

particle

Meaning 17

Alternative form of leh.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Manglish, Singapore, Singlish, alt-of, alternative

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

18

symbol

Meaning 18

redox potential (in volts).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

19

verb

Meaning 19

To use the interjection eh.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Natural exclamation; first recorded mid-16th century. Perhaps an unstressed variant of aye (“yes, yeah”). The Philippine sense is possibly influenced by Tagalog e and/or Spanish eh.

A reduced form of ain't.

From Hokkien 欸 (--eh) and Mandarin 欸 (ê̄ / ế / ê̌, interjection).

Probably of multiple motivations, the sounds having been chosen for functional reasons.

From Hokkien 咧 (--leh), with the l dropped.

Across languages

Translations

88 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Ashkun: ne — used as a tag question
  • Catalan: eh — used as a tag question
  • Catalan: oi — used as a tag question
  • Czech: hm — used as a tag question
  • Dutch: hè — used as a tag question
  • Esperanto: ĉu ne — used as a tag question
  • Estonian: eh — used as a tag question
  • Finnish: vai mitä — used as a tag question
  • French: hein — used as a tag question
  • French: tu sais — used as a tag question
  • French: n'est-ce pas — used as a tag question
  • German: gell — used as a tag question
  • German: oder — used as a tag question
  • German: ne — used as a tag question
  • German: nicht wahr — used as a tag question
  • Italian: eh — used as a tag question
  • Japanese: ね (ne) — used as a tag question
  • Japanese: だろ (daro) — used as a tag question
  • Kamkata-viri: ne — used as a tag question
  • Korean: 지 (ji) — used as a tag question
  • Korean: 죠 (jo) — used as a tag question
  • Māori: nē — used as a tag question
  • Mon: ဏး (ṇá) — used as a tag question
  • Norwegian: eller hva — used as a tag question
  • Norwegian: ikke sant — used as a tag question
  • Okinawan: なー (nā) — used as a tag question
  • Old English: cwist þu la? — used as a tag question
  • Persian: نه؟ (na?) — used as a tag question
  • Polish: hę — used as a tag question
  • Polish: nie — used as a tag question
  • Polish: co — used as a tag question
  • Polish: prawda — used as a tag question
  • Portuguese: hein — used as a tag question
  • Portuguese: né — used as a tag question
  • Prasuni: nā — used as a tag question
  • Russian: правда (pravda) — used as a tag question
  • Russian: не так ли (ne tak li) — used as a tag question
  • Russian: а (a) — used as a tag question
  • Russian: да (da) — used as a tag question
  • Serbo-Croatian: ha? — used as a tag question
  • Serbo-Croatian: ха̏ — used as a tag question
  • Spanish: no — used as a tag question
  • Spanish: ah — used as a tag question
  • Spanish: eh — used as a tag question
  • Swedish: va — used as a tag question
  • Thai: นะ (ná) — used as a tag question
  • Thai: เนอะ (nə́) — used as a tag question
  • Tok Pisin: a — used as a tag question
  • Ukrainian: га (ha) — used as a tag question
  • Ukrainian: еге ж (ehe ž) — used as a tag question
  • Ukrainian: чи не так (čy ne tak) — used as a tag question
  • Ukrainian: правда (pravda) — used as a tag question
  • Ukrainian: так (tak) — used as a tag question
  • Vietnamese: nhỉ — used as a tag question
  • Vietnamese: nhé — used as a tag question
  • Waigali: nā — used as a tag question
  • Catalan: eh — request for repetition or clarification
  • Esperanto: ĉu — request for repetition or clarification
  • Catalan: eh — used to mean “What?”
  • Chinese Mandarin: 欸 (ế, éi) — used to mean “What?”
  • Dutch: hè — used to mean “What?”
  • Finnish: hä — used to mean “What?”
  • French: hein — used to mean “What?”
  • Icelandic: ha — used to mean “What?”
  • Italian: eh — used to mean “What?”
  • Japanese: えっ (e) — used to mean “What?”
  • Norwegian: hva — used to mean “What?”
  • Norwegian: hæ — used to mean “What?”
  • Norwegian: hæh — used to mean “What?”
  • Persian: ها (hâ) — used to mean “What?”
  • Portuguese: hein — used to mean “What?”
  • Russian: м — used to mean “What?”
  • Russian: эм (em) — used to mean “What?”
  • Russian: а (a) — used to mean “What?”
  • Spanish: qué — used to mean “What?”
  • Spanish: cómo — used to mean “What?”
  • Spanish: eh — used to mean “What?”
  • Spanish: ah — used to mean “What?”
  • Tagalog: ha — used to mean “What?”
  • Thai: หา (hǎa) — used to mean “What?”
  • Ukrainian: га (ha) — used to mean “What?”
  • Vietnamese: hả — used to mean “What?”
  • Catalan: eh — (Canada) interjection used to ascertain continued attention
  • Dutch: hè — (Canada) interjection used to ascertain continued attention
  • French: hein — (Canada) interjection used to ascertain continued attention
  • German: ne — (Canada) interjection used to ascertain continued attention
  • German: nicht — (Canada) interjection used to ascertain continued attention
  • Spanish: eh — (Canada) interjection used to ascertain continued attention