Meanings
- ManglishSinglishPhew!, thank goodness; expressing relief, e.g., when an extremely unlucky outcome has been avoided.
"Heng ah," Tan sighed. "Nightmare only."
2010 January 6, Victor Yek, Abyss (ebook), →ISBN2 more examples
Political succession in Singapore is clear as mud but the People’s Action Party have announced the office-bearers in their central executive committee. […]
2018 November 24, Kirsten Han, “#31: Heng ah, I haven't kena defamation. (Not yet.)”, in wethecitizens.net"We called it Tankfully Fresh because it's the feeling we want our customers to have when they open their package, like 'heng ah, it's fresh'," said Mr Goh, using the Hokkien term for thankfully or luckily.
2019 August 21, Lester Wong, quoting Jimmy Goh, “Wet market seafood online orders delivered to your doorstep, thankfully fresh”, in The Straits Times, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2024
Origin
- Hokkien幸啊
- Teochew興啊 /兴啊
- Englishheng ah
From Teochew 興啊 /兴啊 (hêng¹ a⁷) or Hokkien 幸啊 (hēng--a). By surface analysis, heng (“lucky”) + ah (used for emphasis).
More words from Teochew, Hokkien
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
heng ah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heng%20ah
“heng ah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heng%20ah. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heng ah,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heng%20ah.
Source: heng ah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.