hurrah
Americaninterjection
verb (used without object)
noun
-
an exclamation of “hurrah.”
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hubbub; commotion; fanfare.
-
a colorful or tumultuous event; spectacle or celebration.
We celebrated the centennial with a three-day hurrah.
idioms
interjection
verb
Usage
What does hurrah mean? Hurrah is a word to shout when you want to celebrate something. Hurrah is an interjection, meaning it’s a term used to express emotion, often outside of a sentence. Hurrah is sometimes spelled hoorah. Similar and related words are hooray, hurray, and huzzah. All of these words are used in the same way—as a celebratory exclamation (something to shout in celebration). Hurrah started as something to shout out loud, but today it’s probably pretty rare for people to literally shout “Hurrah!” (It sounds a bit old-timey, and people are more into yelling woo! and woo-hoo!) But hurrah is still often used as an interjection in informal, conversational writing, such as social media posts and texts. To show appreciation for something in particular, you might write hurrah for followed by that thing, as in Hurrah for three-day weekends!Hurrah can be used as a verb meaning to shout hurrah or to celebrate, as in They were hurrahed for their bravery. It can also be used to refer to a cheer of hurrah (as in a big hurrah from the crowd), commotion or fanfare (as in There was much hurrah following the announcement), or a showy spectacle or celebration (as in We’ll have a big hurrah to celebrate). Hurrah is also part of the common phrase last hurrah, meaning a final attempt, competition, performance, success, or celebration before something ends, such as a career. Example: Hurrah! The package I ordered is here!
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hurrah
First recorded in 1680–90; from German hurra
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:
Outward is ending after eight years, so hosts Bryan Lowder, Christina Cauterucci, and June Thomas reunited for one last hurrah.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Since the last World Cup in Qatar, they have both left Europe and migrated to leagues where they can relax into life as past-their-prime superstars enjoying one last hurrah.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
So the pair’s haute holiday is meant to be Deborah’s last hurrah.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
Johnny Knoxville and his band of professional bad decision-makers are calling this one their final hurrah and, really, can you blame them?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
Several people excitedly threw their hats into the air, some shouted what would have been a loud hurrah, and the rest pushed the heavy cannon into place.
From "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster
The baseball championship was one of their last hurrahs.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2021
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Oz: “Excitement is building down here in Melbourne,” hurrahs Eastsidescally.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 11, 2021
Over the years, he has thrown out the ceremonial first pitch at a Mets game, dined in Manhattan’s finest restaurants and good-naturedly accepted the heckles and hurrahs from the Big Apple’s impassioned horseplayers.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2021
But does uncoupling such hurrahs, homages, raves and rhapsodies from the works they accessorize and cobbling them together yield a volume that satisfies on its own?
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2019
By a dashing charge on double time they passed it under exulting hurrahs and most gallant work, and gained the west bank.
From From Manassas to Appomattox Memoirs of The Civil War in America by Longstreet, James
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.
