voilà
Americaninterjection
Usage
What does voilà mean? Voilà is a word used when enthusiastically revealing something, presenting something, or showing something off.Voilà is borrowed from French, in which it translates as “see there.” Saying voilà is a lot like saying “here it is,” “look at this,” or “check this out” about the thing being presented or revealed.It’s an interjection, meaning it’s a term used to express an emotion or indicate some kind of condition, usually by itself. Voilà is especially used to express satisfaction or success in relation to something that has just been done or shown.It is sometimes used in a humorous or exaggerated way, such as to be dramatic when presenting something, similar to the term ta-da.It is sometimes spelled as voila, without the accent mark over the a.Example: All you have to do is push this button, and voilà! The machine does the work for you!
Etymology
Origin of voilà
First recorded in 1825–35; from French, equivalent to voi “see!” (2nd person singular imperative of voir “to see”) + là “there”
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.
And voilà: a larger 2025 tax refund.
From MarketWatch
All it takes is a few clicks of her remote to crank up one of the many flaming yule logs that TV offers, and voila: a maintenance-free, rustic glow is achieved.
From Salon
“What a remarkable device this is! A long tube, some simple glass lenses, and a basic understanding of optics, and voilà: faraway things come impossibly near, and without the inconvenience of a long train ride, either.”
From Literature
Like “Eureka” or “By Jove, I’ve got it,” “voilà” is sometimes exclaimed by people who have figured out the answer to some sort of problem or riddle that has been vexing them to no end.
From Literature
But why would Penelope use a French word like “voilà” when she was nowhere near France?
From Literature
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.