Phew

How to spell phew

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce phew

What does phew mean?

1. interjectionAn exclamation expressing relief, tiredness, or mild disgust, imitating the sound of breath blown out.

Phew in a sentence

• Phew, the missing passport was in the drawer all along.

• Phew, that climb up the hill left everyone gasping.

Where does phew come from?

Language of origin: Other

Phew is an imitative or onomatopoeic word, meaning it was coined to mirror an actual sound rather than descend from an older root. It represents the soft puff of breath people release when they feel relief, exhaustion, or disgust, and English began writing it down in this form during the 1600s. Spellings of such breathy exclamations have wandered over the centuries, appearing as 'pheugh', 'pew', and 'foh' before 'phew' settled as the standard. The choice of 'ph' for an /f/-like puff is what trips writers up, since the sound itself gives no clue that two letters are needed at the start. Because it simply records a noise, phew has no meaningful relatives in the way ordinary borrowed words do; it sits alongside other imitative exclamations such as 'whew' and 'ugh'.

How the word is built

• phew (imitative single unit; no prefix, root, or suffix; spelled to mimic the sound of breath being blown out)

Words that sound like phew

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• few: A small number of; not many.