ew
/ˈiː.uː/interjection, verb
ew is spelled E-W: 2 letters. It appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, ew means “Expression of disgust or nausea” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ew?
| Letters | 2: E-W |
|---|---|
| In writing | 3.8 times per million words; the 13,321st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ew?
Ew appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st 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 ew?
- /ˈiː.uː/
- /iːˈjuː/
- /iːu̯/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ooh_eww.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with ew
Also written: yew.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of ew
- eww
- euw
- ieuw
- ehw
- ews present, singular, he/she/it
- ewwing participle, present
- ewwed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ew mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
Expression of disgust or nausea.
Ew! There’s a fly in my soup.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of electronic warfare.
symbol
- 1
datedAn orthographic ⟨ew⟩ with a diacritic that marks it as being the USE vowel, as in the word "lewd".
verb
- 1
colloquialrareTo express disgust (at someone or something) by saying ew.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ew in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense expression of disgust or nausea:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | beurk |
| German | igitt, pfui |
| Portuguese | credo, eca, que nojo! |
| Spanish | guácala, puaj, puaf, iw, huácala, fuchi |
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 ew come from?
Onomatopoeic, ideophonic. Compare oh, ugh.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).