yuck
/jʌk/interjection, noun, verb
yuck is spelled Y-U-C-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, yuck means “Uttered to indicate disgust usually toward an objectionable taste or odour” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in yuck?
| Letters | 4: Y-U-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 26,776th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is yuck?
Yuck appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th 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 yuck?
- /jʌk/
- /jʊk/
Yuck 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-yuck.oga, En-au-yuk.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with yuck
Sounds like: yuk (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of yuck
- yucks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- yucking participle, present
- yucked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does yuck mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
Uttered to indicate disgust usually toward an objectionable taste or odour.
Yuck! This peanut butter is disgusting!
noun
- 1
Something disgusting.
- 2
derogatoryinformalA general insult.
- 3
The sound made by a whole-hearted laugh.
- 4
USslangSynonym of yearling (“a sophomore at West Point military academy”).
Amy tells us that her husband, Jim Nelson, is deployed to Afghanistan […] as a nuclear operations officer – a result of graduating from the Naval Postgraduate School in December 2007 with a master's in Applied Physics. I guess I should have
verb
- 1
To say "yuck"; to express disgust.
- 2
To vomit or gag;
- 3
fuck.
- 4
To laugh or joke.
- 5
To yank or grab.
- 6
Alternative form of yawk (“to inflict a violent impact upon”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Yuck in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense uttered to indicate disgust:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | beurk |
| German | igitt, pfui |
| Portuguese | eca, puh, iéca, blhac, blhec |
| Spanish | puaj, guácala, fuchi, fuchila, puaf |
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 yuck come from?
Perhaps imitative. Akin to Dutch jakkes (“disgusting”). First appeared in the 1960s. Compare also Scots yeuk (“anything that disgusts”), Middle English yuke (“an itchy skin disease" akin to middle Dutch "joke" and modern Dutch "jeuk"”) .
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).