oba
Portuguese, interjection
oba is spelled O-B-A (3 letters) and appears 2.3 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 20,529th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Oba is a Portuguese interjection meaning “whee; yay (expression of pleasure or enjoyment)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an accent, obá is a different word: “oba (a king of a Yoruba polity)”. The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “expressa alegria, contentamento, surpresa”.
What does oba mean in English?
interjection
- 1
colloquialwhee; yay (expression of pleasure or enjoyment)
noun
- 1
masculineoba (a king of a Yoruba polity)
- 2
Brazilmasculinean honorary title in Candomblé given to each of the 12 men who form the council of ministers and hold seats of honor alongside King Shango
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
interjection: 1. expressa alegria, contentamento, surpresa 2. o mesmo que upa!, opa! 3. expressa cumprimentação
noun: 1. vestimenta branca e fina, mais ou menos até à cintura, com mangas largas ou sem mangas, que, na igreja católica, os padres e os leigos usam por cima das roupas quando estão em funções no templo
noun: 1. um título dado aos reis na Iorubalândia 2. um título honorário no candomblé
noun: 1. a orixá do rio Obá e primeira esposa de Xangô 2. um rio na Nigéria
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of oba
- obás plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to oba
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is oba in Portuguese?
oba appears 2.3 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).