Meaning

(with rising pitch) Used to express doubt or confusion..

Definitions by Sense

1. (with rising pitch) Used to express doubt or confusion.
2. (with falling pitch) Used to express amusement or subtle surprise.
3. (with rising pitch) Used to reinforce a question.
4. (slang, with falling pitch) Used either to belittle the issuer of a statement/question, or sarcastically to indicate utter agreement, and that the statement being responded to is an extreme understatement. The intonation is changed to distinguish between the two meanings - implied dullness for belittlement, and feigned surprise for utter agreement.
5. (informal, with rising pitch) Used to indicate that one did not hear what was said.
6. (informal, with falling pitch) Used to create a tag question.
7. (onomatopoeia) Representing the sound of heavy breathing.
8. (onomatopoeia) Representing a chuckling sound.

Example Sentences

Huh? Where did they go?

Huh! I'm sure I locked it when I left.

Where were you last night? Huh?

(belittlement) A: "We should go to an amusement park; it would be fun." B: "Huh."

(agreement) A: "Murder is bad." B: "Huh!"

Huh? Could you speak up?

It's getting kind of late, huh?

He broke into a dogtrot and ran by us. I don't think he saw us. His voice was coming in little puffs, huh, huh, huh, but he probably didn't notice that either.

Word Forms

• hah
• hunh

Synonyms for huh

Related Words

When Should You Use Huh?

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

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