Meanings
- Expressing surprise or gloating realisation; aha.
"Oho! Now I see where he's going with this, Frank thinks. Would have seen it earlier if I hadn't been so tired."
1997, Bruce A Shuman, Beyond the library of the future3 more examples
"There is Kate, taking no heed of anybody; sensible old darling — she goes at her tea and cake — Oho! she has not touched them!"
1880, Lucy Bethia Walford, Troublesome Daughters"Oho, my boy, that's the woman who keeps you here! Mrs. Neff hinted at it, but I wouldn't believe it till I had it from you."
1914, Rupert Hughes, What Will People Say?"Oho," he said, "a vile thing to say. It is. I am losing check upon my tongue, it is running free like a riderless horse. And I don't give a damn. I can say at last what I wanted for years to say, years of being politic and demure. No longer."
1988, Thomas Flanagan, The Tenants of Time - archaicThe sound of weeping; boo-hoo.
"Oho, oho, oho!" she wailed. "I didn't know; I didn't know. I meant no harm; indeed I didn't, ma'am."
1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
Origin
- Middle Englisho ho
- Englishoho
From Middle English o ho; o, ho; equivalent to o + ho.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
oho. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oho
“oho.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oho. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oho,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oho.
Source: oho on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.