Meanings
interjectionbless you!
- abbreviationShort for (may) God bless you: said as a short prayer for the recipient.
- humorousidiomaticUsed to express non-understanding of someone who has just used an unusual or foreign word or phrase (as if to imply that it sounds like a sneeze).
‘What’s that?’ said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding. ‘Bouillabaisse,’ said Hermione. ‘Bless you,’ said Ron. ‘It’s French,’ said Hermione. ‘I had it on holiday, summer before last, it’s very nice.’
2000 July 8, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], “The Goblet of Fire”, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter; 4), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 221
Synonyms & antonyms
interjectionSaid to someone who has just sneezed, as a polite remark.
Similar
Origin
- Middle EnglishGod blesse you
- Englishbless you
Short for God bless you, from Middle English God blesse you, God blisse you.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic صِحَّة, اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه
- صِحَّة (ṣiḥḥa)said to somebody who has sneezed
- اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه (al-ḥamdu li-llāh)said to somebody who has sneezed
- يَرْحَمْكُم اللّٰه (yarḥamkum allāh)said to somebody who has sneezed
- يَرْحَمْكُم (yarḥamkum)said to somebody who has sneezed
Basque doministiku
- doministikusaid to somebody who has sneezed
Bengali জিও
- জিও (jiō)said to somebody who has sneezed
Bulgarian наздра́ве
- наздра́ве (nazdráve)said to somebody who has sneezed
Catalan salut, Jesús
- salutsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- Jesússaid to somebody who has sneezed
Chinese Mandarin 一百歲 /一百岁
- 一百歲 /一百岁 (yībǎi suì)said to somebody who has sneezed
Czech na zdraví
- na zdravísaid to somebody who has sneezed
Danish prosit
- prositsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Dutch gezondheid, proost
- gezondheidsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- proostsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Esperanto sanon
- sanonsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Estonian terviseks
- tervisekssaid to somebody who has sneezed
Finnish terveydeksi
- terveydeksisaid to somebody who has sneezed
French à vos souhaits, à tes souhaits
- à vos souhaitssaid to somebody who has sneezed
- à tes souhaitssaid to somebody who has sneezed
- à vos amourssaid to somebody who has sneezed
- à tes amourssaid to somebody who has sneezed
- et qu'elles durent toujourssaid to somebody who has sneezed
German Gesundheit, hatschi
- Gesundheitsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- hatschisaid to somebody who has sneezed
- prostsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- Helfgottsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Greek υγείες, γείτσες
- υγείες (ygeíes)said to somebody who has sneezed
- γείτσες (geítses)said to somebody who has sneezed
Hebrew לַבְּרִיאוּת, לִבְרִיאוּת
- לַבְּרִיאוּת (labri'út)said to somebody who has sneezed
- לִבְרִיאוּת (livri'út)said to somebody who has sneezed
- אָסוּתָא (asúta)said to somebody who has sneezed
Hindi हरि ॐ
- हरि ॐ (hari om)said to somebody who has sneezed
Hungarian egészségedre
- egészségedresaid to somebody who has sneezed
Icelandic guð hjálpi þér, hjálpi þér
- guð hjálpi þérsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- hjálpi þérsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- Guð blessi þigsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- blessi þigsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Irish Dia linn!, deiseal!
- Dia linn!said to somebody who has sneezed
- deiseal!said to somebody who has sneezed
Italian salute!
- salute!said to somebody who has sneezed
Japanese お大事に, 徳万歳
- お大事に (o-daiji ni)said to somebody who has sneezed
- 徳万歳 (tokomanzai)said to somebody who has sneezed
Latin absit omen, salūtā
- absit omensaid to somebody who has sneezed
- salūtāsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- salvēsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- salvētesaid to somebody who has sneezed
Latvian uz veselību
- uz veselībusaid to somebody who has sneezed
Lithuanian į sveikatą
- į sveikatąsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Norwegian prosit
- prositsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Persian عافیت باشه, الحمد للّٰه
- عافیت باشه ('âfiyat bâše)said to somebody who has sneezed
- الحمد للّٰه (al-hamdo le-llâh)said to somebody who has sneezed
Polish na zdrowie
- na zdrowiesaid to somebody who has sneezed
Portuguese santinho!, saúde!
- santinho!said to somebody who has sneezed
- saúde!said to somebody who has sneezed
- vivasaid to somebody who has sneezed
- Deus te criesaid to somebody who has sneezed
Romanian sănătate!, noroc
- sănătate!said to somebody who has sneezed
- norocsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- chefsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Russian будь здоро́в, будь здоро́ва
- будь здоро́в (budʹ zdoróv)said to somebody who has sneezed
- будь здоро́ва (budʹ zdoróva)said to somebody who has sneezed
- бу́дьте здоро́вы (búdʹte zdoróvy)said to somebody who has sneezed
Scottish Gaelic Dia leat!
- Dia leat!said to somebody who has sneezed
Slovak na zdravie
- na zdraviesaid to somebody who has sneezed
Spanish ¡salud!, ¡Jesús!
- ¡salud!said to somebody who has sneezed
- ¡Jesús!said to somebody who has sneezed
- ¡santinos!said to somebody who has sneezed
Swahili afya
- afyasaid to somebody who has sneezed
Swedish prosit, väl bekomme
- prositsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- väl bekommesaid to somebody who has sneezed
Thai พุทโธ, ธรรโม
- พุทโธsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- ธรรโมsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- สงโฆsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Turkish çok yaşa, çok yaşayın
- çok yaşasaid to somebody who has sneezed
- çok yaşayınsaid to somebody who has sneezed
- yerhamükellahsaid to somebody who has sneezed
Ukrainian будьте здорові
- будьте здорові (budʹte zdorovi)said to somebody who has sneezed
Urdu الحمد للّٰہ, یرحمک اللہ
- الحمد للّٰہ (al-hamdu li-llāh)said to somebody who has sneezed
- یرحمک اللہ (yarhamak-allāh)said to somebody who has sneezed
- سلامت باشد (salāmat-bāśad)said to somebody who has sneezed
- سلامت باشید (salāmat-bāśed)said to somebody who has sneezed
Vietnamese cơm muối
- cơm muốisaid to somebody who has sneezed
Welsh bendithiwch chi, Bendith Duw di
- bendithiwch chisaid to somebody who has sneezed
- Bendith Duw disaid to somebody who has sneezed
Yiddish זײַ געזונט, צו געזונט
- זײַ געזונט (zay gezunt)said to somebody who has sneezed
- צו געזונט (tsu gezunt)said to somebody who has sneezed
Cite this entry
APA
bless you. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bless%20you
MLA
“bless you.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bless%20you. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bless you,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bless%20you.
Source: bless you on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.