ouais

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: ouaïs and -ouais

French

[edit]
A user suggests that this French entry be cleaned up, giving the reason: “This looks like it might have multiple etymologies. Also the audio file does not match the given pronunciation.”
Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup(+) or the talk page for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From oui via dialectal variants; also possibly from oyez.

Before becoming an informal synonym of oui, the word was exclamatory. According to Auguste Scheler, it could be linked to Indo-European roots: οὐαί (ouaí) in Greek, vae in Latin, uau in Portuguese, wow in English, wau in German, guau in Spanish or vai in Romanian.

Pronunciation

[edit]
  • IPA(key): /wɛ/
  • Audio:(file)

Interjection

[edit]

ouais

  1. (informal) Synonym of oui; yeah, yep, yup, yes, affirmative expression
    Synonyms: (informal, mitigated yes) mouaif, (informal, mitigated yes) mouais, yeah, yep, yes, (anglicism) [Term?], (anglicism) [Term?], (anglicism) [Term?]
    T’as eu ton bac alors ? — Ouais, tranquille.
    You've got your baccalaureate then? Yeah, no problem.
  2. (informal) Synonym of oui (used to express consent)
    Synonyms: (informal, mitigated yes) mouais, yep, (anglicism) [Term?]
    Damien est irresponsable. — Ouais ; ça lui jouera des tours.
    Damian is irresponsible. — Yeah; it will play tricks on him in the future.
  3. (dated) wow
    Synonyms: oh, ouah, mazette, (informal) purée, (vulgar) putain, waou, waouh
    • Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris, 1832
      Ouais ! dit le roi en se grattant l’oreille gauche avec la main droite, cela fait un bon bout de ma ville !
      Wow! said the king, scratching his left ear with his right hand, that's quite a bit of my town!
  4. (informal) whoo (expresses joy)
    Synonyms: hourra, yeah, yes, yippie, youpi
    Ouais, on a gagné !Whoo, we / they won!

Derived terms

[edit]

References

[edit]