hi
interjection
(used as an exclamation of greeting) hello!
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hi
1 American
[hahy]
/ haɪ /
interjection
hi
2
American
[hahy]
/ haɪ /
adjective
HI
3
American
H.I.
4
American
HI
1
British
abbreviation
-
Hawaii (state)
-
Hawaiian Islands
hi
2
British
/ haɪ /
hi
3
British
/ haɪ /
interjection
Etymology
Origin of hi
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English hy, perhaps variant of hei hey
Explanation
Hi is a common greeting, more casual than "hello." When you walk down the street in a small town, it might seem like everyone you pass says "hi." The word hi is a good, nearly all-purpose greeting — it's appropriate in all but the most formal circumstances, so you might want to skip saying, "Hi" to the Queen when you meet her. When you greet someone, you have a lot of words to choose from, including "hey," "hello," "hiya," and "howdy," but hi is probably the most common. The first mention of hi attributes it to a Kansas native American in the 1800s.
Vocabulary lists containing hi
Scrabble: Two-Letter Words
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Just walking down the street in Boston wearing any type of Scotland merchandise will result in people waving, saying hi or shouting "good luck Scotland".
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
“When you’re out on a run or a walk or a bike ride, do you say hi to people that pass? If you don’t, I’m not so sure about you,” he joked.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 20, 2026
“Oh hi baby,” she captioned a set of baby-bump-baring photos shared to Instagram in November.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
Ovitz, the former superagent, says he’ll always stop to say hi, but: “We all know: Don’t hang out.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
“If you go that way, it will spit you out on the sidewalk. Say hi to your mom for me.”
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
AFP saw pushing and shoving between front-row protesters and officers trying to keep the surging crowd away from Jakarta's central Bundaran HI public square, which is surrounded by businesses and embassies.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
Police detained six activists who had draped Greenpeace protest banners from a monument on Jakarta's central Bundaran HI roundabout on Tuesday morning, before the student marches, according to Jeanny Sirait, a campaigner for the NGO.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
Astronomers primarily detect HI through its extremely faint 21-centimeter radio emission line.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
However, at the HI San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf Hostel, you can find a bed in a shared room for less than $30 or a private room for less than $100 on some nights.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2023
Viserys had told her that the last Targaryen dragons had died no more than a century and a half ago, during the reign of Aegon HI, who was called the Dragonbane.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
The ship appears to have crewed anti-aircraft weapons on its bow and stern, according to H.I.
From Seattle Times ● May 26, 2022
If Ray is the hapless Jerry Lundegaard type — or the H.I.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2017
It sponsors many of the local monthly music events: First Fridays at the Oregon VFW, the Lanark jam the second week at Cherry Grove Church, Fridays at the H.I.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 5, 2016
But when he followed up, in 1987, with two of his most memorable characters in two of his best films -- as the rooster-haired babynapper H.I.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2011
"It seems to me some nights," I wrote in my diary at the time, "as if I were watching Napoleon trying to imitate H.I., and I find myself immensely interested and amused in the watchings."
From The Story of My Life Recollections and Reflections by Ellen Terry
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
