fie

[fahy]

interjection

(used to express mild disgust, disapprobation, annoyance, etc.)

(used to express the humorous pretense of being shocked.)

Origin of fie

1250–1300; Middle English fi < Middle French < Latin; compare Old Norse fȳ, Latin phy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fie

Contemporary Examples of fie

Fie on frustrated feminists: If you are an Orthodox woman, you can have it all.
David Brooks In The Supermarket Aisles Of Judaism
Gershom Gorenberg
March 13, 2013
The new movie Anonymous says Shakespeare was a fraud and has literary scholars screaming “Fie!”
Was Shakespeare a Fraud?
Chris Lee
October 18, 2011

Historical Examples of fie

Fie had collected twenty-four of us, whom he called his 'disciples,' and shamed am I to say, I was one.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
No cat ever dreaded water so much as she does: fie upon her!
The Memoirs of Count Grammont, Complete
Anthony Hamilton
"Fie for shame, Captain Jacques," said Mary, with pious horror.
The O'Donoghue
Charles James Lever
Fie on thee, John, to take a poor maid at her word so shortly.
Standish of Standish
Jane G. Austin
And Bianca, she too said, "Fie, what foolish duty call you this?"
Tales from Shakespeare
Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb

British Dictionary definitions for fie

fie

interjection

obsolete, or facetious an exclamation of distaste or mock dismay

Word Origin for fie

C13: from Old French fi, from Latin fī, exclamation of disgust

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fie

interj.

late 13c., possibly from Old French fi, exclamation of disapproval, and reinforced by a Scandinavian form (cf. Old Norse fy); it's a general sound of disgust that seems to have developed independently in many languages.