phooey

[foo-ee]

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interjection Informal.

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

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

Related Words for phooey

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

British Dictionary definitions for phooey

phooey

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

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.