Standard Lemma guide

hi

adj · intj · name · noun · 11 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.

  • /haɪ/
  • homophone: Hi
  • homophone: hie
  • homophone: high
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • South-Asia: /haːj/
  • rhymes with -aɪ
  • homophone: hi
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AY1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Informal spelling of high, often in hyphenated terms.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, informal

Examples

  • Get hi-quality videos here!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

intj

Meaning 2

A friendly, informal, casual greeting said upon someone's arrival.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Hi, how are you?
  • I just dropped by to say “hi”.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hello, greetings, howdy

Antonyms: none provided

3

intj

Meaning 3

An exclamation to call attention.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

intj

Meaning 4

Expressing wonder or derision.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: dated outside of Ireland

Examples

  • How did he do that, hi?
  • That’s mad, hi!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

name

Meaning 5

Abbreviation of Hawaii: a state of the United States.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

name

Meaning 6

A male given name, a short form of Hiram

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

The word "hi" used as a greeting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • I didn't even get a hi.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: greeting, hello

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

Abbreviation of high (“high gear or high range”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, uncountable

Qualifier: on some gear levers

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: LO[low]], low gear>

9

noun

Meaning 9

Initialism of hyperspectral imaging.

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

10

noun

Meaning 10

an expression of greeting

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • every morning they exchanged polite hellos

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hello, hullo, howdy, how-do-you-do

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: greeting, salutation

11

noun

Meaning 11

a state in the United States in the central Pacific on the Hawaiian Islands

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Hawaii, Hawai'i, Aloha State

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: American state

History

Etymology

From high.

American English. First recorded reference is to speech of a Kansas Indian (1862); originally to attract attention, probably a variant of Middle English hey, hy (circa 1475). Also an exclamation to call attention. See hey.

Clipping of Hiram.

Across languages

Translations

190 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: haai — friendly, informal greeting
  • Aleut: aang — friendly, informal greeting
  • Southern Altai: эзен (ezen) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Alutiiq: cama’i — friendly, informal greeting
  • Ambonese Malay: oe — friendly, informal greeting
  • Amharic: ሰላም (sälam) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Arabic: مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Arabic: سَلَام (salām) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Arabic: أَهْلًا (ʔahlan) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Arabic: أهلاً — friendly, informal greeting
  • Arabic: هلا (hala) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Arabic: قوة (guwa) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Arabic: هلا (hala) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Arabic: مَرْحَبَا (marḥaba) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Arabic: السلام (s-salām) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Armenian: բարեւ (barew) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Asturian: ei — friendly, informal greeting
  • Azerbaijani: salam — friendly, informal greeting
  • Bashkir: сәләм (sələm) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Basque: kaixo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Belarusian: прыве́т (pryvjét) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Belarusian: здаро́ў (zdarów) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Bengali: সালাম (salam) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Bulgarian: здра́сти (zdrásti) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Bulgarian: здраве́й (zdravéj) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Burmese: မင်္ဂလာပါ (mangga.lapa) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Catalan: hola — friendly, informal greeting
  • Chinese Cantonese: 你好 (nei5 hou2) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Chinese: сэляму (seliamu) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 汝好 (nṳ̄ hō̤) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Hakka Chinese: 你好 (ngì-hó) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Chinese: 你好 (lí hó) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Chinese Mandarin: 你好 (nǐ hǎo) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Chinese Mandarin: 嗨 哈囉 /哈啰 (hāi) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Wu Chinese: 儂好 /侬好 (6non 5hau) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Czech: ahoj — friendly, informal greeting
  • Czech: čau — friendly, informal greeting
  • Czech: čus — friendly, informal greeting
  • Czech: nazdar — friendly, informal greeting
  • Czech: zdar — friendly, informal greeting
  • Danish: hallo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Danish: hej! — friendly, informal greeting
  • Danish: dav — friendly, informal greeting
  • Dutch: hallo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Dutch: hoi — friendly, informal greeting
  • Esperanto: saluton — friendly, informal greeting
  • Esperanto: sal — friendly, informal greeting
  • Estonian: hei — friendly, informal greeting
  • Estonian: tere — friendly, informal greeting
  • Estonian: tervist — friendly, informal greeting
  • Faroese: hey — friendly, informal greeting
  • Faroese: halló — friendly, informal greeting
  • Finnish: hei — friendly, informal greeting
  • Finnish: moi — friendly, informal greeting
  • Finnish: terve — friendly, informal greeting
  • French: salut — friendly, informal greeting
  • Galician: ola — friendly, informal greeting
  • Georgian: გამარჯობა (gamarǯoba) — friendly, informal greeting
  • German: hallo — friendly, informal greeting
  • German: 'n Tag — friendly, informal greeting
  • German: sali — friendly, informal greeting
  • German: hoi — friendly, informal greeting
  • German: grüezi — friendly, informal greeting
  • Greek: γεια (geia) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם (shalóm) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Hebrew: היי (haj) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Hindi: नमस्ते (namaste) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Hindi: सलाम (salām) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Hindi: हाइ (hāi) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Hungarian: szia — friendly, informal greeting
  • Icelandic: halló — friendly, informal greeting
  • Icelandic: hæ — friendly, informal greeting
  • Indonesian: hai — friendly, informal greeting
  • Indonesian: salam — friendly, informal greeting
  • Interlingua: salute — friendly, informal greeting
  • Interlingua: hallo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Irish: haigh — friendly, informal greeting
  • Italian: ciao — friendly, informal greeting
  • Japanese: こんにちは (konnichi wa) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Japanese: やあ (yā) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Japanese: どうも (dōmo) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Japanese: よう (yō) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Kazakh: сәлем (sälem) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Kazakh: салам (salam) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Khmer: សួស្តី (suəsdəy) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Korean: 안녕 (annyeong) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Krio: kusheh — friendly, informal greeting
  • Northern Kurdish: merheba — friendly, informal greeting
  • Northern Kurdish: silav — friendly, informal greeting
  • Northern Kurdish: selam — friendly, informal greeting
  • Kyrgyz: салам (salam) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Lao: ສະບາຍດີ (sa bāi dī) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Lao: ເຮີຍ (hœ̄i) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Latin: salve — friendly, informal greeting
  • Latin: ave — friendly, informal greeting
  • Latvian: sveiks — friendly, informal greeting
  • Latvian: sveika — friendly, informal greeting
  • Latvian: sveiki — friendly, informal greeting
  • Latvian: sveikas — friendly, informal greeting
  • Lithuanian: labas — friendly, informal greeting
  • Lithuanian: sveikas — friendly, informal greeting
  • Macedonian: здраво (zdravo) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Malay: hai — friendly, informal greeting
  • Malay: salam — friendly, informal greeting
  • Maltese: ejj — friendly, informal greeting
  • Northern Mansi: паща (paśa) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Northern Mansi: пася (pasâ) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Mongolian: сайн уу? (sajn uu?) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Mongolian: сайн байна уу? (sajn bajna uu?) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Nepali: हाइ नमस्कार (hāi) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Nepali: नमस्ते (namaste) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hei — friendly, informal greeting
  • Norwegian Bokmål: heisan — friendly, informal greeting
  • Occitan: adieu — friendly, informal greeting
  • Ojibwe: boozhoo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Ossetian: салам (salam) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Ossetian: арфӕ (arfæ) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Pashto: سلام (salām) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Iranian Persian: سَلام (salâm) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Iranian Persian: دُرود (dorud) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Polish: cześć — friendly, informal greeting
  • Polish: hej — friendly, informal greeting
  • Portuguese: olá — friendly, informal greeting
  • Portuguese: oi — friendly, informal greeting
  • Portuguese: alô — friendly, informal greeting
  • Portuguese: e ai? — friendly, informal greeting
  • Romanian: bună — friendly, informal greeting
  • Romanian: salut — friendly, informal greeting
  • Russian: приве́т (privét) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Russian: здоро́во (zdoróvo) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Russian: здра́сте (zdráste) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Inari-Sami: tiervâ — friendly, informal greeting
  • Northern Sami: dearvva — friendly, informal greeting
  • Northern Sami: bures — friendly, informal greeting
  • Skolt-Sami: tiõrv — friendly, informal greeting
  • Scottish Gaelic: hòigh — friendly, informal greeting
  • Scottish Gaelic: shin thu — friendly, informal greeting
  • Scottish Gaelic: shin sibh — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: ћа̑о — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: здра̏во — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: ме̏рха̄ба — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: ха̀ло — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: бок — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: ćȃo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: zdrȁvo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: mȅrhāba — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: hàlo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Serbo-Croatian: bok — friendly, informal greeting
  • Sicilian: sabbinirìca — friendly, informal greeting
  • Slovak: ahoj — friendly, informal greeting
  • Slovak: čau — friendly, informal greeting
  • Slovak: nazdar — friendly, informal greeting
  • Slovene: žívjo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Slovene: zdrávo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Spanish: hola — friendly, informal greeting
  • Sranan Tongo: fa — friendly, informal greeting
  • Sranan Tongo: ofa — friendly, informal greeting
  • Swahili: jambo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Swahili: salaam — friendly, informal greeting
  • Swedish: hallå — friendly, informal greeting
  • Swedish: hej! — friendly, informal greeting
  • Swedish: hejsan — friendly, informal greeting
  • Swedish: tja — friendly, informal greeting
  • Swedish: tjena — friendly, informal greeting
  • Tagalog: helo — friendly, informal greeting
  • Tagalog: hoy — friendly, informal greeting
  • Tajik: салом (salom) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Tamil: வணக்கம் (vaṇakkam) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Tatar: сәлам (sälam) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Thai: หวัดดี (wàt-dii) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Thai: สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dii) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Tigrinya: ሰላም (sälam) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Tok Pisin: gude — friendly, informal greeting
  • Turkish: merhaba — friendly, informal greeting
  • Turkish: selam — friendly, informal greeting
  • Turkmen: salam — friendly, informal greeting
  • Tz'utujil: coli — friendly, informal greeting
  • Ukrainian: приві́т (pryvít) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Ukrainian: се́рвус (sérvus) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Urdu: سَلام (salām) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Urdu: اَلسَّلامُ عَلَیکُم (as-salāmu 'alaikum) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Urdu: سَلام عَلَیکُم (salām 'alaikum) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Urdu: آداب (ādāb) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Uyghur: سالام (salam) — friendly, informal greeting
  • Uzbek: salom — friendly, informal greeting
  • Volapük: glidis! — friendly, informal greeting
  • Walloon: a — friendly, informal greeting
  • Walloon: bondjoû — friendly, informal greeting
  • Welsh: siwmae — friendly, informal greeting
  • Xârâgurè: vâsgatzo — friendly, informal greeting