Meanings
alternative fy · alternative fye
- archaicSometimes followed by on or upon: used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage.
"Fie upon them, forgetting their philosophy!"
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC4 more examples
Fie, fie, vnknit that thretaning vnkinde brovv, / And dart not ſcornefull glances from thoſe eies, / To vvound thy Lord, thy King, thy Gouernour.
c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 229, column 1Bian[ca]. I am no ſtrumpet, but of life as honeſt, / As you, that thus abuſe me. / Em[ilia]. As I: fough, fie vpon thee.
c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 89I pleaded with my companions to spare his life, and they said, ‘Fie! shame upon you! You have a Chinese heart.’ Then they turned upon me to kill me as well, so I withdrew my petition. After that they cut off the woodsman's head, and we returned home.
1920 March, Alice Ballantine Kirjassoff (quote sourced to Kim Soan), “Formosa the Beautiful”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 284–285But the orthodox scientific world says fie! to the religious impulse. The scientist wants to discover a cause for everything.
1922, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Introduction”, in Fantasia of the Unconscious, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, page 4
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinfī
- Old Frenchfi
- Middle Englishfy
- Englishfie
From Middle English fy, from Old French fi, from Latin fī. (with a possible additional influence from Old Norse). Compare Swedish fy.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 惡心 /恶心, 呸
- 惡心 /恶心 (ěxin)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- 呸 (pēi)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- 啐 (cuì)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- 哎呀 (āiyā)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- 哎 (āi)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- 唉 (ài)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Dutch vij, foei
- vijused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- foeiused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Esperanto fi
- fiused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Finnish hyi
- hyiused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
French beurk, fi
- beurkused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- fiused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
German pfui
- pfuiused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Hebrew פוי, פויה
- פוי (fuy)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- פויה (fuya)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- טפו (tfu)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- טפי (tfi)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- טפו עליךused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- טפי עליךused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Hungarian fuj
- fujused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Italian vergogna
- vergognaused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Japanese げ, ゲ
- げ (ge)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- ゲ (ge)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- げっ (ge)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- ゲッ (ge)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Norwegian fy
- fyused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Persian شه, تفو
- شه (šoh)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- تفو (tofu)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- ویک (vik)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Polish tfu
- tfuused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Portuguese vergonha
- vergonhaused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Romanian rușine
- rușineused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Russian тьфу, фу́-ты
- тьфу (tʹfu)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- фу́-ты (fú-ty)used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Scottish Gaelic ab, abab
- abused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- ababused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
- puth-uthused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Swedish fy
- fyused to express distaste, disgust, or outrage
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with fie
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
fie. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fie
“fie.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fie. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fie,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fie.
Source: fie on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.