aiyo

A1I1Y4O1
/aɪˈjoʊ/Singapore[ˌaɪ(˦)˨ ˈjoʊ(˨˦˧)]

interjection

Expressing distress, regret, or fear.

OriginTamil ஐயோ ← Sinhalese අයියෝ ← Chinese 哎喲 /哎哟 →
Scrabble 7
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Meanings

interjection

alternative ayyo · alternative aiyoh

  1. ChinaIndiaMalaysiaSingaporeSouthSri LankainformalExpressing distress, regret, or fear.

    Aiyo! aiyo! My little Podi Sinho!

    1913, L. Woolf, Village in Jungle ii. 28
    5 more examples

    'Are you crying for your father?' 'Aiyo, aiyo!' wailed the girl. 'I shall never see him again!'

    1886, Chamber's Journal. 20 Mar. 184/1

    'Aiyo its our Kalu' they all cried.

    1971, Fashion Panaroma (Ceylon) Apr. 31

    Aiyo! Never thought our beloved principal will come to this end.

    1982, R.K. Narayan, Tiger for Malgudi (1984) 119

    Aiyow! I don't know how I got the compulsion to say all that. But I really did.

    1985, Pao Kun Kuo, The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole, →ISBN

    Vijaya touched Rajam's forehead and exclaimed, Aiyo. She is running very high temperature.

    2009, S. Manickavasagam, Power of Passion 218

Origin

  1. Chinese哎喲 /哎哟
  2. Sinhaleseඅයියෝ
  3. Tamilஐயோ
  4. Englishaiyo

Mainly borrowed from Tamil ஐயோ (aiyō) and Sinhalese අයියෝ (ayiyō). Common in Dravidian languages; compare Telugu అయ్యో (ayyō), Kannada ಅಯ್ಯೋ (ayyō), Malayalam അയ്യോ (ayyō), Tulu ಅಯ್ಯೋ (ayyō), Kurux अयो (ayo). Alternatively from Chinese 哎喲 /哎哟 (āiyō) in Malaysia and Singapore.

More words from Tamil, Sinhalese, Chinese

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

yaoi
Cite this entry
APA

aiyo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aiyo

MLA

“aiyo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aiyo. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aiyo,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aiyo.

Source: aiyo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.