Yay or yey?
yay is an interjection meaning “An expression of happiness”; yey is an interjection meaning “Alternative spelling of yay”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) yay is about 72 times as common as yey.
What is the difference between yay and yey?
| yay | yey | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | interjection, adverb, noun | interjection |
| Meaning | colloquialAn expression of happiness | Alternative spelling of yay |
| Example | Yay! I have finally finished my work! | none recorded |
| Forms | yea | none |
| Pronunciation | /jeɪ/ [jeː] [jeɪ̯] | not recorded |
| In writing | 8.3 times per million words | about once in every 9 million words |
Sources: yay and yey in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of yay and yey
yay
- 1
colloquialAn expression of happiness
Yay! I have finally finished my work!
- 2
Alternative spelling of yea
The tree was yay big
- 3
USslangCocaine (powder or crack)
yey
- 1
Alternative spelling of yay
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, yay or yey?
yay appears 8.3 times per million words; yey about once in every 9 million words.
yay 8.3 times per million wordsyey about once in every 9 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).