phew
/fjuː/interjection
phew is spelled P-H-E-W: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “phew vs whew” about 140 times a month (Google, United States). As an interjection, phew means “Used to express relief of tension, fatigue, or surprise” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in phew?
| Letters | 4: P-H-E-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 24,170th 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 phew?
Phew appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th 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 phew?
- /fjuː/
- [ɸj̊u̥˥˩]
- /fɪu̯/
Phew 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)-I_learned_some_phrases-phew.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with phew
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: few (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 phew
- whew
- pew
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does phew mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
Used to express relief of tension, fatigue, or surprise.
Phew, that took a long time to cook!
- 2
Used to show disgust.
Phew, it stinks in here!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Phew in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pfou, ouf , pouah |
| German | puh, pfoah , pfui |
| Portuguese | ufa |
| Spanish | fíu, menos mal , puaj |
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 phew come from?
Attested since the early 17th century. An onomatopoeia for rapid exhalation, as one may make when a trying situation is over, or in order to get rid of an unpleasant odour. Compare Scots feuch, Spanish fu, Czech fuj, and many more such forms.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).