# shoo

> English word · Verb · IPA /ʃuː/ · frequency rank #35,078

## Definitions
1. To induce someone or something to leave.
2. To leave under inducement.
3. To usher someone.

## Etymology
From Middle English schew, schowe, show, showe, scou (“shoo!”, interjection). Compare Middle High German schū, schuo (“shoo!”, interjection) (modern German scheu! (“shoo!”)), Dutch schuwen (“to shun”), German scheuchen (“to scare, drive away”).

## Easily confused with
- **so** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-so)
- **son** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-son)
- **shy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-shy)
- **sox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sox)
- **sol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sol)
- **soy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-soy)
- **sow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sow)
- **SOS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sos)
- **SOB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sob)
- **sod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sod)
- **som** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-som)
- **soe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-soe)
- **sop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sop)
- **soi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-soi)
- **SoA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-soa)
- **sou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sou)
- **sor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sor)
- **sot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sot)
- **sov** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-sov)
- **show** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shoo-vs-show)

## Common misspellings (3)
`hsoo`, `shhoo`, `sshoo`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shoo