Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

phooey

play
interjection phoo·ey \ˈfü-ē\

Definition of phooey

  1. —used to express repudiation or disgust

See phooey defined for English-language learners

See phooey defined for kids

Read the Latest from M-W

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
watercolor-squares
We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square
image1489982902
Devilish Words
time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Examples of phooey in a Sentence

  1. phooey, I can't believe we did so poorly in the rankings of the best places to live

First Known Use of phooey

1919

phooey Synonyms

Synonyms
faugh, fie, phew, yuck, rats, ugh, yech (or yecch)
Related Words
ah, bah, boo, humph, pish, pooh, pshaw, sheesh, tush, tut, tut-tut; alack, alas, woe
Near Antonyms
yum-yum

PHOOEY Defined for English Language Learners

phooey

play
interjection

Definition of phooey for English Language Learners

  • —used to express disbelief, disappointment, or a strong dislike for something

Learn More about phooey

  1. See words that rhyme with phooey Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for phooey

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up phooey? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

waif

play

an extremely thin woman

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. hegemon "Something having dominant influence over others"

  2. repugnant Trump clarifies his position on racism

  3. white nationalist, white supremacist Trending in 2017

  4. bereft "Lacking something needed, wanted, or expected"

  5. impanel "To choose people to serve on a jury"

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

phooey

Test Your Vocabulary

Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

  • time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
  • Which came first?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Dictionary Devil

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

watercolor-squares
We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square

It's about (you? your?) having your say.

image1489982902
Devilish Words

Don't blame a word use error on the devil.

alt-599492594f435
How 'Wonderful' Lost Its Sense of Wonder

A case of semantic bleaching

dog-covering-face
Don't Let Reading This Be Another 'Coulda' 'Shoulda' 'Woulda'

PSA: They're three separate words.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

Take the quiz
name-more-food
Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Dictionary Devil
Dictionary Devil

The dictionary has been scrambled—can you put it back together?

Play the game
Examples: phooey in a Sentence