English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Colloquial form of yea or yes. Compare nah
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /ˈjɛ(ə)/, /ˈjæ.(ə)/
-
Audio (US, interjection) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛə, -ɛ, -æ
Particle[edit]
yeah
- (colloquial) yes.
- (colloquial) Used to express acknowledgment of what was previously said.
-
Do you wanna get pizza for dinner?
Yeah, I think I’m gonna eat some leftovers.
-
Synonyms[edit]
- yes, yep, yup, aye, ya, yea, uh-huh
Translations[edit]
Note: Many languages have no exact equivalent of this word; in those cases, the translations given here are for yes.
yes
- Azerbaijani: həri
- Catalan: sí (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 是啊 (zh) (shì a), 對啊／对啊 (duì a), 啊 (zh) (à), 嗯 (zh) (ǹg)
- Czech: jo (cs), no (cs)
- Dutch: ja (nl), jawel (nl)
- Finnish: joo (fi), juu (fi)
- French: ouais (fr)
- German: (yeah) jo (de), joa (de); (yes) ja (de)
- Greek: ναι (el) (nai)
- Hindi: हाँ (hi) (hā̃)
- Hungarian: igen (hu), ja (hu)
- Icelandic: já (is)
- Interlingua: si (ia)
- Italian: sì (it), già (it)
- Japanese: うん (ja) (un), そう (ja) (sō), ええ (ja) (ē), ああ (ja) (ā)
- Kapampangan: awa, uwa
- Korean: 응 (ko) (eung), 네 (ko) (ne), 예 (ko) (ye), 응 (ko) (eung), 어 (ko) (eo)
- Lithuanian: taip (lt)
- Navajo: wehee
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: ja (no), yeah, ja vel (no)
- Nynorsk: ja (nn), yeah, ja vel
- Old Church Slavonic: ⰵⰹ (ei)
- Persian: بله (fa) (bale), آره (fa) (âre)
- Polish: tak (pl), no (pl), aha (pl) m, ta (pl) m (colloquial)
- Portuguese: sim (pt), é (pt), iá (pt) (informal)
- Romanian: da (ro)
- Russian: ага́ (ru) (agá), ага́ (ru) (ahá), угу́ (ru) (ugú), угу́ (ru) (uhú), так (ru) (tak), ну (ru) (nu)
- Serbo-Croatian: da (sh) da (sh)
- Cyrillic: да̑
- Roman: dȃ (sh)
- Sicilian: sì (scn), sè (scn), certu
- Slovak: no (sk)
- Slovene: ja (sl)
- Spanish: sí (es), seh, sipi
- Swedish: ja (sv) n
- Thai: เออ (th) (əə)
- Ukrainian: еге́ (ehé)
- Urdu: ہاں (hā̃) (informal)
- Vietnamese: ừ (informal), ờ (vi) (informal)
- Volapük: si (vo)
- Welsh: iah
- Yoruba: bẹ́ẹ̀ ni
Interjection[edit]
yeah
- Expressing joy, celebration, glee, etc.
-
Yeah! We did it!
-
Synonyms[edit]
- hurrah, hurray, woohoo, yay, yippee
Derived terms[edit]
- yeah right
Translations[edit]
expressing joy
- Dutch: yes (nl), jippie (nl)
- Finnish: jee (fi), joo (fi)
- French: ouais (fr)
- Italian: sì (it), vai (it), evvai (it), evviva
- Japanese: やった (yatta), イェー (slang)
- Portuguese: é! (pt), isso aí!
- Russian: да! (ru) (da!), ура́! (ru) (urá!), э-ге́й! (e-géj!), е! (ru) (je!) (slang)
- Sicilian: forza ḍḍocu!
- Ukrainian: так! (uk) (tak!)
See also[edit]
- yes
Etymology 2[edit]
See year.
Noun[edit]
yeah (plural yeahs)
- Pronunciation spelling of year.
Anagrams[edit]
- Haye, haye, heya
Chinese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “From English?”)
Pronunciation[edit]
- Cantonese (Jyutping): je1
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: je1
- Yale: yē
- Cantonese Pinyin: je1
- Guangdong Romanization: yé1
- Sinological IPA (key): /jɛː⁵⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Noun[edit]
yeah
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) V sign
Verb[edit]
yeah
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) to make a V sign
Adjective[edit]
yeah
- (Hong Kong Cantonese, somewhat dated) cool; stylish
Other forms: yeahs
Yeah is a casual form of yes. When you’re hanging out with someone you really look up to and they ask you if you want to go to a party, play it cool by saying “Yeah, sure,” instead of “Yes! I’d love to!”
You would almost never write “yeah” unless you were trying to mimic the sound of talking. If someone says, «Yeah, right,» they’re not casually telling you you’re right. They’re ironically saying “Not likely.” And if someone interrupts you while you’re talking and says “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” it means, “I already know that—–get on with it!.”
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘yeah’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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informal
: yes
«Are you ready?» «Yeah, I’m ready.»
«Do you want to come?» «Yeah, sure.»
Oh yeah, I gotta vote.—
Harper’s
«Is that one the dressing room?» asked Bean, pointing to the section with the dresser and the folding screen. «Yeah.»—Annie Barrows
«At first I was all, ‘Me? A hero?’ And then I got to thinking about it and I realized that, yeah, I am a hero …»—Rob Long
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re a beautiful lover.—Irvine Welsh
Yeah, it comes from classical music, but it comes from other places, too …—David M. Yaffe
When the cowboy would say something like, «Things are quiet around here tonight,» she would join in with, «Yeah, too quiet,» right on cue.—Betsy Byars
—often used sarcastically in phrases like yeah, right and yeah, sure to express doubt or disbelief
Synonyms
Example Sentences
“Are you coming with us?” “Yeah, I’m coming.”
Yeah, I agree with you.
“That looks good.” “Yeah, I think so too.”
Word History
First Known Use
1863, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of yeah was
in 1863
Dictionary Entries Near yeah
Cite this Entry
“Yeah.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yeah. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023.
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
1. Adapted from a nefarious, celebratory expression of fulfillment and pleasure during a Palpatinian Galactic Republic conflict, YEAH illicits the paradoxical, primordial feeling of satifaction with the demise of a foe/adversary.
2. A spontaneous and vociferous articulation of exuberance shared in ‘call and response’ reciprocity during any appreciative interaction with a friend. Occasional pitch inflection (lower or higher octave) used as a discretionary option to incite laughter.
3. A term used to greet a friend.
1. {Villian summons the force to pin hero under scaffolds} «YEAH!»
2. {Friends mutually realize they just achieved something great} «YEAH!!!»
3. Hey «YEAH» (lower octave)
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a band that consists on karen o the singer nick zinner the guitarist brian chase the drummer.the band formed in new york because karen had a rocker chick friend who brang her out to clubs and met nick zinner again.Nick zinner was in her high school and nick knew she sang sad songs so nick and karen formed up to make songs but back then they made songs that were melancholic and then when they were going to have a live gig karen remembered brian chase back in her highschool that he played drums so they called brian up and asked if he could play for them and the whole band formed
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Um, yeah, I guess so. 
Ну да, наверное.
Yeah, I agree with you.
Да, я с вами согласен.
Yeah, but I’m at his mercy
Да, но я в его власти (ничего не могу с этим поделать)
«That looks good.» «Yeah, I think so too.»
— Выглядит хорошо. — Да, я тоже так думаю.
«Are you coming with us?» «Yeah, I’m coming.»
«Ты пойдешь с нами?» «Да, я иду.»
‘Power to the people!’ ‘Yeah, right on.’
— Власть — народу! — Да, верно!
Yeah? Well, bollocks to you too, mate!
Да? Так и хрен тебе тоже, приятель!
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‘It makes things much easier.’ ‘Yeah, I’ll bet it does.’ 
‘Can you deliver on Thursday?’ ‘Yeah, no worries, mate.’
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