Revised 2005 More entries for pew
pewinterjection
Factsheet
What does the interjection pew mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the interjection pew. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the interjection pew?
Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English
| 1750 | 0.0014 |
| 1760 | 0.0011 |
| 1770 | 0.0015 |
| 1780 | 0.002 |
| 1790 | 0.0016 |
| 1800 | 0.0018 |
| 1810 | 0.0025 |
| 1820 | 0.0029 |
| 1830 | 0.0037 |
| 1840 | 0.0038 |
| 1850 | 0.0047 |
| 1860 | 0.0052 |
| 1870 | 0.0059 |
| 1880 | 0.0057 |
| 1890 | 0.0057 |
| 1900 | 0.0053 |
| 1910 | 0.005 |
| 1920 | 0.0039 |
| 1930 | 0.0033 |
| 1940 | 0.0028 |
| 1950 | 0.0026 |
| 1960 | 0.0026 |
| 1970 | 0.0026 |
| 1980 | 0.0027 |
| 1990 | 0.0026 |
| 2000 | 0.0026 |
| 2010 | 0.0027 |
How is the interjection pew pronounced?
British English
/pjuː/
pyoo
U.S. English
/pju/
pyoo
Where does the interjection pew come from?
Earliest known use
early 1600s
The earliest known use of the interjection pew is in the early 1600s.
OED's earliest evidence for pew is from 1604, in a text by John Marston, poet and playwright, and John Webster, poet and playwright.
pew is an imitative or expressive formation.
Nearby entries
- Peul, n. & adj.1895–
- peulvan, n.1841–
- Peutinger, n.1731–
- Peutingerian, adj.a1657–
- peverade, n.a1425–50
- pew, n.¹c1400–
- pew, n.²?a1500–
- pew, n.³1765–
- pew, v.¹a1425–
- pew, v.²1609–
- pew, int.1604–
- pewage, n.1640–1899
- pew chair, n.1875–
- pew-dish, n.1654
- pewdom, n.1866–
- pewed, adj.a1661–
- pewewe, int.a1525
- pew-fellow, n.1533–
- pewful, n.1641–
- pew-gaff, n.a1884
- pew gallery, n.1848–66
Etymology
Summary
An imitative or expressive formation.
Imitative. Compare slightly earlier pew waw int. and discussion at that entry. Compare also pooh int., phew int.
Meaning & use
Contents
- 1604–
- 1604
Pue, thou giuest no good reason, Thou speakest like a foole.
J. Marston & J. Webster, Malcontent (new edition) i. vii. sig. C4 - a1625
Pew, nothing, the law Shallicke cuts him off.
J. Fletcher, Noble Gentleman iii. iv, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher, Comedies & Tragedies (1647) sig. Ee3v/2 - 1658
Pew, you dotard, doest think I will be frighted out of my Boy.
W. Chamberlayne, Loves Victory i. i. 2 - 1678
Peuh! you are mistaken.
E. Ravenscroft, English Lawyer iii. i. 32 - 1787
Peugh! Pfha! Pfha! What can this be?
R. P. Jodrell, Disguise ii. ii, in Select Dramatic Pieces 234 - 1853
Peuh! a titmouse catcher!
B. Webster, Man of Law iv. 47 - 1858
Is this the place? Peuh!
E. Bulwer-Lytton, What will he do with It? (Tauchnitz edition) vol. III. vi. vi. 167 - 1941
Pew! what an ungratefulness and unwontness the man is grown unto!
E. R. Eddison, Fish Dinner ix. 164 - 1990
Sometimes when I saw my boyfriend right afterward, he'd pull his head back from my stinky hair and say, ‘Pew: therapy!’
S. Miller, Family Pictures ii. xiii. 261
- prut?c1300–1887An exclamation of contempt, disbelief, etc.
- trutc1330–1440An exclamation of contempt.
- truptc1380An exclamation expressing contempt. Cf. tprot, int.
- ahaa1400–Expressing triumph, satisfaction, realization, discovery, or (now rarely) mockery or irony. Cf. ah, int. A.3, A.4, ha, int. A.1b.
- tushc1440–An exclamation of impatient contempt or disparagement.
- puff1481–Representing the act of blowing a puff of air, smoke, etc., or of exhaling breath in a pant or gasp; expressing sudden appearance or disappearance…
- quotha?1520–Used with contemptuous, ironic, or sarcastic force after repeating words said by someone else: ‘he said?’, ‘she said?’; (hence) ‘indeed!’ (indeed…
- ah?1526–Expressing dislike, aversion, or contempt; (also) mockery or satisfaction at another's misfortune.
- ta ha1528A derisive exclamation.
- twish1577–82An exclamation of contempt or vexation.
- blurt1592–1606Expressing contempt or disdain. Cf. blurt, v. 2. Obsolete.
- gip1592–1660An expression of surprise, derision, or contempt addressed to a person; = ‘get out’, ‘go along with you’.
- pish1592–Expressing contempt, impatience, or disgust. Also (reduplicated) pish pish.
- tantia1593–Of so much value, worth so much; worth while. Formerly also as an exclamation of contempt or depreciation: So much for…!
- (God) bless (also save) the mark and variants: an exclamatory phrase, probably originally serving as a formula to avert an evil omen, and hence…
- phah1593An exclamation expressing contempt or disgust.
- marry come up1597–In phrases. marry come up: expressing indignant or amused surprise or contempt.
- mew1600–Expressing derision. Now archaic.
- pooh1600–Expressing impatience, contempt, disdain, etc. Cf. phew, int., pho, int., phoo, int. 1, poof, int. A.1.
- marry muff1602–13Expressing derision or contempt, or used for emphasis. In quot. 1613 used as the name of a derided character.
- pew waw1602–39= pew, int.
- ptish1602–An exclamation of contempt or disdain. Also as n.: an utterance of this.
- pew1604–Expressing contempt, disgust, or derision. Cf. pooh, int., phew, int.
- push1605–1735Expressing contempt, impatience, or disgust; = pish, int., tush, int. Also (reduplicated) push push.
- pshaw1607–Expressing contempt, impatience, or disgust, or used to depreciate or dismiss some statement or notion.
- tuh1607–An exclamation expressing disgust or disdain.
- pea1608Expressing impatience or contempt; = pooh, n. A.1.
- poh1650–1852intransitive. To utter the word or sound ‘poh’; to express contempt in this manner; in early use frequently in to pish and poh (cf. pish, v. 1). In…
- pooh pooh1694–= pooh, int. B.1.
- hoity-toity1695–An exclamation expressing surprise with some degree of contempt, esp. at words or actions considered to show flightiness or undue assumption.
- highty-tighty1699–Expressing contemptuous surprise or annoyance; = hoity-toity, int. Now rare.
- indeed1834–As an interjection, expressing (according to the intonation) irony, contempt, amazement, incredulity, or the like.
- shucks1847–In plural as an int. (shucks!), expressing surprise, regret, irritation, or, in response to praise, self-deprecation. See also aw shucks, int.
- skidoo1906–In catchphrases. Used as an exclamation of disrespect (for a person). Esp. in nonsense association with twenty-three. (temporary.)
- suck1913–plural as int. Used as an expression of contempt, chiefly by children. Also in sucks to you and variants slang.
- zut1915–An exclamation expressing annoyance, contempt, impatience, etc.
- yah boo1921–An exclamation of scorn or derision. Also attributive and transferred.
- quoz1926–An odd or ridiculous person or thing; (with plural agreement) people or things of this kind. Also as int.: expressing incredulity or contempt. Cf…
- pooey1927–An expression of distaste, revulsion, derision, or contempt, esp. used by or in imitation of children. Cf. pooh, int., phooey, int.
- ptui1930–Representing the sound of a person spitting; (hence) expressing disgust or contempt: ‘Pah!’ ‘Pshaw!’.
- snubs1934–plural. As int., expressing total indifference or contempt. slang.
- upya1941–Used to express contemptuous rejection. Cf. up yours at up, prep.² phrases I.3b and upyer, int.
- yah boo sucks1980–Used similarly.
- aye, right1991–Chiefly Scottish and Irish English (northern). colloquial. aye, right: used ironically to express contempt or incredulity with respect to a…
Pronunciation
British English
/pjuː/
pyoo
U.S. English
/pju/
pyoo
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛtl/ but <petally> /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
Vowels
- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in <bitter>
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but <petally> /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Forms
Variant forms
- 1600spue
- 1600s–1800speuh
- 1600s–pew
- 1700speugh
- 1900s–pyoo (Scottish)
Frequency
pew typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
pew is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.
Frequency of pew, int., 1750–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1750 | 0.0014 |
| 1760 | 0.0011 |
| 1770 | 0.0015 |
| 1780 | 0.002 |
| 1790 | 0.0016 |
| 1800 | 0.0018 |
| 1810 | 0.0025 |
| 1820 | 0.0029 |
| 1830 | 0.0037 |
| 1840 | 0.0038 |
| 1850 | 0.0047 |
| 1860 | 0.0052 |
| 1870 | 0.0059 |
| 1880 | 0.0057 |
| 1890 | 0.0057 |
| 1900 | 0.0053 |
| 1910 | 0.005 |
| 1920 | 0.0039 |
| 1930 | 0.0033 |
| 1940 | 0.0028 |
| 1950 | 0.0026 |
| 1960 | 0.0026 |
| 1970 | 0.0026 |
| 1980 | 0.0027 |
| 1990 | 0.0026 |
| 2000 | 0.0026 |
| 2010 | 0.0027 |
Entry history for pew, int.
pew, int. was revised in December 2005.
pew, int. was last modified in July 2023.
Revision of the OED is a long-term project, and oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:
- corrections and revisions to definitions, especially to improve clarity, accuracy, or intelligibility;
- new or updated quotation evidence, and reverified or redated bibliographical information;
- new or updated pronunciations (transcriptions and audio files);
- new or revised etymological information and improved coverage of variant spellings;
- new senses or phrases added in print and online updates since OED2 (1989).
Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into pew, int. in July 2023.
Earlier versions of this entry were published in:
OED First Edition (1905)
OED Second Edition (1989)
Cite
Permanent link:
Chicago 18
Oxford English Dictionary, “,” , .
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MLA 9
“” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, , .
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APA 7
Oxford University Press. (n.d.). In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved , from
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Citation details
Factsheet for pew, int.
Browse entry
Nearby entries
- Peul, n. & adj.1895–
- peulvan, n.1841–
- Peutinger, n.1731–
- Peutingerian, adj.a1657–
- peverade, n.a1425–50
- pew, n.¹c1400–
- pew, n.²?a1500–
- pew, n.³1765–
- pew, v.¹a1425–
- pew, v.²1609–
- pew, int.1604–
- pewage, n.1640–1899
- pew chair, n.1875–
- pew-dish, n.1654
- pewdom, n.1866–
- pewed, adj.a1661–
- pewewe, int.a1525
- pew-fellow, n.1533–
- pewful, n.1641–
- pew-gaff, n.a1884
- pew gallery, n.1848–66