phooey

[ foo-ee ]

interjection

, Informal.

1. (an exclamation indicating rejection, contempt, or disgust):

   Phooey on all those political promises!

phooey

/ ˈfuːɪ /

interjection

1. informal.
   an exclamation of scorn, contempt, disbelief, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of phooey¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1925–30; perhaps from German pfui! expression of disgust, conflated with English phoo! with similar force

Word History and Origins

Origin of phooey¹

C20: probably variant of phew

Example Sentences

Clips of vintage TV programmes such as Hong Kong Phooey, The Incredible Hulk and Dallas are shown alongside adverts for long defunct products.

From BBC

The “can’t win the big one” thing is phooey.

From Los Angeles Times

I try to liven up our team's daily call by having a different background every day; I'm currently working through a selection of television shows from childhood, so today my video feed features Hong Kong Phooey.

From BBC

Guardiola however thinks that is phooey: “There is no special motivation. Even if it was the last one there would not have to be extra motivation. The desire to win has to be there, without that it is impossible, but more than that it’s another game, that’s all.”

From The Guardian

Phooey to dust on a random sea breeze or strewn on a field of unoffending vegetation.

From The New Yorker

Related Words

• cry
• exclamation
• expletive
• insertion
• interpolation
• interposition
• shout