attaboy
/ˈætəˌbɔɪ/interjection, noun
attaboy is spelled A-T-T-A-B-O-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 16 million words in written English, the 119,826th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, attaboy means “Used to show encouragement or approval to a boy, man, or male animal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in attaboy?
| Letters | 7: A-T-T-A-B-O-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 16 million words; the 119,826th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is attaboy?
Attaboy appears about once in every 16 million words in written English, the 119,826th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce attaboy?
- /ˈætəˌbɔɪ/
Attaboy has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-attaboy.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-attaboy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of attaboy
- atta boy
- ataboy
- thatta boy
- thattaboy
- attaboys plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does attaboy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
colloquialUsed to show encouragement or approval to a boy, man, or male animal.
Attaboy! That's the way to hit a home run!
noun
- 1
A cry of encouragement; an accolade.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Attaboy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Used to show encouragement or approval to a boy or a man:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bon gars, bravo |
| German | gut gemacht, guter Junge, Das ist mein Mann! |
| Portuguese | lindo menino |
| Spanish | ¡bien hecho! |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does attaboy come from?
A variant pronunciation of That's the boy!, a cry of encouragement, especially to children and pet dogs.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).