what the

interjection

Used to express astonishment or incredulity, as a question or questioning of the situation at hand, without requiring any specific vulgarity as intensifier.

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Meanings

interjectionwhat the … ?
  1. by ellipsisUsed to express astonishment or incredulity, as a question or questioning of the situation at hand, without requiring any specific vulgarity as intensifier.

    Hee haw! Did that come out of me? Oh! Huh? What the …? What's going on? Ahhh!

    1940, as realization dawns that he is turning into a donkey, in Pinocchio (motion-picture), spoken by Lampwick (Frankie Darrow), Burbank: Disney; distributed by RKO Radio Pictures

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
no way

Origin

From various expressions such as what the Sam Hill, what the hey, what the heck, what the hell and what the fuck by aposiopesis.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French c’est quoi ce délire ?!
  • c’est quoi ce délire ?!expression of astonishment
Cite this entry
APA

what the. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20the

MLA

“what the.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20the. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “what the,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20the.

Source: what the on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.