Meanings
alternative hip hip hoorah · alternative hip hip hurrah · alternative hip hooray
- An exclamation of congratulations or celebration, especially in response to a call for three cheers for the person.
Origin
Recorded as far back as 1803. The word hip was in use then as a meaningless syllable to solicit someone's attention. Hooray (or hurrah) traces back to 1686, and also had no specific meaning, used instead to solicit a person's attention. A folk etymology for this interjection suggests it comes from the anti-Semitic German Hep-Hep riots in 1819, however many examples of Hip Hip exist in English prior to 1819, for example: * 1813, Edmond Temple, The Life of Pill Garlick, London, page 243: The first toast “Success to Pill Garlick lick and his saucy crew,” was drank with nine times nine, hip! hip! hip! and a hoorra! The tumult was excessive.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مَرْحَى!
- مَرْحَى! (marḥā!)an exclamation of congratulations
Chinese Mandarin 万岁！万岁！万万岁！
- 万岁！万岁！万万岁！an exclamation of congratulations
Czech hip, hip, hurá
- hip, hip, huráan exclamation of congratulations
Dutch hieperdepiep hoera, hiep hiep hoera
- hieperdepiep hoeraan exclamation of congratulations
- hiep hiep hoeraan exclamation of congratulations
Finnish hip hip huraa
- hip hip huraaan exclamation of congratulations
French hip hip hip hourra
- hip hip hip hourraan exclamation of congratulations
German hipp, hipp, hurra
- hipp, hipp, hurraan exclamation of congratulations
Italian hip hip hip urrà, hip hip hip hurrà
- hip hip hip urràan exclamation of congratulations
- hip hip hip hurràan exclamation of congratulations
Norwegian hipp hipp hurra
- hipp hipp hurraan exclamation of congratulations
Polish hip, hip, hurra
- hip, hip, hurraan exclamation of congratulations
Portuguese hip hip hurra
- hip hip hurraan exclamation of congratulations
Russian гип-ги́п ура́, гип-ги́п-ура́
- гип-ги́п ура́ (gip-gíp urá)an exclamation of congratulations
- гип-ги́п-ура́ (gip-gíp-urá)an exclamation of congratulations
Spanish hip hip hurra
- hip hip hurraan exclamation of congratulations
Swedish hipp hipp hurra
- hipp hipp hurraan exclamation of congratulations
Cite this entry
hip hip hooray. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hip%20hip%20hooray
“hip hip hooray.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hip%20hip%20hooray. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hip hip hooray,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hip%20hip%20hooray.
Source: hip hip hooray on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.