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definitions

phooey

[ foo-ee ]
/ ˈfu i /
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR phooey ON THESAURUS.COM

interjection Informal.

(an exclamation indicating rejection, contempt, or disgust): Phooey on all those political promises!

RELATED WORDS

exclamation, wow, amen, hello, alas, boo, hurrah, ahem, oh, whoopee, hooray, shucks, er, ouch, rah, ah, egad, golly, hey, huh

Nearby words

  1. phonotypy,
  2. phony,
  3. phony disease,
  4. phony war,
  5. phony-baloney,
  6. phorate,
  7. phorbol,
  8. phorcys,
  9. phoresis,
  10. phoresy

Origin of phooey

1925–30, Americanism; perhaps < German pfui! expression of disgust, conflated with English phoo! with similar force
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for phooey

phooey

/ (ˈfuːɪ) /

interjection

informal an exclamation of scorn, contempt, disbelief, etc

Word Origin for phooey

C20: probably variant of phew
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 phooey

phooey

expression of contempt, 1929, from Yiddish, from German pfui (attested in English from 1866); popularized by Walter Winchell. Phoo "vocalic gesture expressing contemptuous rejection" is recorded from 1640s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper