aw
/ɔː/interjection, noun
aw is spelled A-W: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “aw vs awe” about 1,000 times a month (Google, United States). As an interjection, aw means “Used to express disappointment or dismay” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in aw?
| Letters | 2: A-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,778th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is aw?
Aw appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th 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 aw?
- /ɔː/
- [ɔ̃ː ~ ɒ̃ː]
- /ɑ/
Aw has one syllable (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-us-aw2.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with aw
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: awe, o'er, oar, or, ore (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of aw
- aww
- awh
- aws plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does aw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
Used to express disappointment or dismay.
Aw, that's too bad...
- 2
Used to express mild protest, entreaty, consternation, or disapproval.
Aw, dad, why can't we go to Legoland?
- 3
Used to express affection.
Aw, you've got such a cute baby bird!
- 4
Used to anticipate reporting to a person in authority that the listener has done something wrong.
Aww, you said a bad word!
noun
- 1
An instance of aw.
noun
- 1
Initialism of autumn/winter; often followed by a year.
AW23 collection
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Aw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense (used to express disappointment or dismay):
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 aw come from?
Natural exclamation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).