huh
/hʌ/interjection
huh is spelled H-U-H: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,521st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, huh means “Used to express doubt or confusion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in huh?
| Letters | 3: H-U-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 19 times per million words; the 4,521st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is huh?
Huh appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,521st 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 huh?
- UK /hʌ/
- UK [hʌ̃]
- US /hʌ/
Huh 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-huh.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-huh2.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-huh3.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with huh
Also written: hah.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with huh?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as huh from its last stressed vowel (/ʌ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: uhh.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of huh
- hah
- hunh
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does huh mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
Used to express doubt or confusion.
Huh? Where did they go?
- 2
Used to express amusement or subtle surprise.
Huh! I'm sure I locked it when I left.
- 3
Used to reinforce a question.
Where were you last night? Huh?
- 4
slangUsed either to belittle the issuer of a statement/question, or sarcastically to indicate utter agreement, and that the statement being responded to is an extreme understatement. The intonation is changed to distinguish between the two meanings - implied dullness for belittlement, and feigned surprise for utter agreement.
(belittlement) A: "We should go to an amusement park; it would be fun." B: "Huh."
- 5
informalUsed to indicate that one did not hear what was said.
Huh? Could you speak up?
- 6
informalUsed to create a tag question.
It's getting kind of late, huh?
- 7
Representing the sound of heavy breathing.
- 8
Representing a chuckling sound.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Huh in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | oh , hein |
| Portuguese | puxa, eta, eita, caramba , ué, como |
| German | hä, häh , wie |
| Spanish | que , eh |
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 huh come from?
Attested from circa 1600. Compare Dutch hè (“huh”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).