Meaning

Ah! alas! Expressing anger, alarm, frustration, pain, etc..

Definitions by Sense

1. Ah! alas! Expressing anger, alarm, frustration, pain, etc.
2. (now chiefly Northern England and Scotland) Expressing earnestness, surprise, wonder, etc.
3. Used in ay, ay.
4. (Mid-Ulster, others) Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”).
5. Alternative spelling of aye (“yes”).
6. (archaic, poetic or Northern England or Scotland) Always; ever; continually; for an indefinite time.
7. Alternative form of a: the name of the Latin script letter A/a.
8. New Zealand spelling of eh (question tag).

Example Sentences

And ſuch as yet, coulde neuer weapon wꝛeſt, / But on the lappe are woont to dandled be, / Ne yet foꝛgotten had the mothers bꝛeſt, / How greekes them ſlew, alas here ſhall ye ſe, / To make repoꝛte therof, ay woe is me, / My ſong is miſchiefe, murder miſerye.

Ay my word! I am glad to see you.

Under the strain of this continually impending doom and by the sleeplessness to which I now condemned myself, ay, even beyond what I had thought possible to man, I became, in my own person, a creature eaten up and emptied by fever, languidly weak both in body and mind, and solely occupied by one thought: the horror of my other self.

Ay! bonny little buttercup, what are ta dewin’ heear, / Hoddin’ up thi tiny heead, this raw, cowd time o’ t’year?

“Ay, I’m glad he’s going to be mairrit,” he said a few minutes later as he sat in the manse kitchen.

AY BY GUM. They’ve summat to put up wi’ hez t’ tram conductors, especially wheer t’ swells lives.

Ay, lass, you’ve ruined your chances now. When you left for New York to become a Pan Am stewardess we thought you’d got it made.

"Good morrow to thee, jolly fellow," quoth Robin; "thou seemest happy this merry morn." "Ay, that am I," quoth the jolly Butcher; "and why should I not be so?[…]"

Word Forms

• ays
• aye

Synonyms for ay

Related Words

When Should You Use Ay?

Use ay when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions