boo
1 Americaninterjection
noun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
interjection
-
an exclamation uttered to startle or surprise someone, esp a child
-
a shout uttered to express disgust, dissatisfaction, or contempt, esp at a theatrical production, political meeting, etc
-
is extremely timid or diffident
verb
Usage
What else does boo mean? Boo is the sound we pretend ghosts make as well as a sound we make when we really don’t like something. Boo is also an affectionate term for one's significant other, similar to bae.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
boosimple
-
boossimple
-
have booedperfect
-
has booedperfect
-
am booingprogressive
-
are booingprogressive
-
is booingprogressive
-
have been booingperfect progressive
-
has been booingperfect progressive
Past
-
booedsimple
-
had booedperfect
-
was booingprogressive
-
were booingprogressive
-
had been booingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of boo1
First recorded in 1630–40; expressive formation
Origin of boo2
First recorded in 1955–60; of uncertain origin
Origin of boo3
1985–90; of uncertain origin; possibly an alteration of French beau “boyfriend, admirer”
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:
You can’t really blame them if their response to the self-absorbed internal monologues of an unreliable narrator is, Oh, boo hoo.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Perhaps the organizers thought the crowd wouldn’t dare boo during a patriotic hymn.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
They grads are also primed to boo any speakers who so much as mutter the words “artificial intelligence.”
From Slate ● May 20, 2026
Nowhere else do people boo like they do there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
“Oh, boo hoo. I, Luigi Libretto Lemoncello, hereby officially declare the games of this first Library Olympiad to be over. Done. Kaput!”
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
Even though his mention of Israeli Prime Minister “Bibi” Netanyahu elicited boos, Witkoff maintained control of the crowd.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
That means there is little or no boos t from forced buying, unlike when a company is added to the S&P 500.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
When legislators saw one lone “nay,” from Andrade, loud boos filled the chamber.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
This was not the first game where boos have been at the hydration break, and the wave of dislike for them among fans appears to be gathering momentum.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
"Stick, stick, stick and run," screamed Donatelli, but his voice was lost in a rising chorus of boos.
From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte
He was booed by the crowd during the national anthems and again when he took the field with Infantino after the game for the awards ceremony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
England were booed as they arrived at their Mexico City hotel to prepare for their World Cup last-16 game against Mexico.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Pulisic arrived having lost his starting spot with Italy’s AC Milan and having been booed off the field after going scoreless in his final 17 games with the club.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
On Monday night, footage appeared to show Marcus Mumford - lead singer of folk band Mumford & Sons - being booed during a gig at Fenway Park after jokingly blaming the rainy weather on Scotland.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Some of the kids in the audience booed, but Adam just grinned.
From "Hopping Mad (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #4)" by Franklin W. Dixon
It consists not only of college students booing AI and waddling seniors raging on Facebook against data centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
“I don’t care if you were God himself, if you were wearing a different color uniform, I was still booing you,” Gubicza said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
When confronted with an undeniable fact — in this case, thousands of people booing a sitting president — the healthy human mind adjusts its understanding of reality.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
US rapper Travis Scott angered fans in Istanbul after a performance that barely lasted 20 minutes, with the audience booing as he left the stage early Monday, footage on social media showed.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
As the dim, humid space filled with booing and shouts of triumph, Frankie met my gaze again and challenged me with a smirk.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions 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.
