hello
/həˈləʊ/US/hɛˈloʊ/
hello interjection: a greeting (salutation) said when meeting someone or acknowledging someone’s arrival or presence.
Interjection
- A greeting (salutation) said when meeting someone or acknowledging someone’s arrival or presence.
- Hello, everyone.
- A greeting used when answering the telephone.
- Hello? How may I help you?
- Hello. This is Marsha. ― Yes, Marsha.2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- A call for response if it is not clear if anyone is present or listening, or if a telephone conversation may have been disconnected.
- Hello? Is anyone there?
- I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
- Used sarcastically to imply that the person addressed has done something the speaker considers to be foolish, or missed something that should have been obvious.
- You just tried to start your car with your cell phone. Hello?
- Dionne: Hello? There was a stop sign.
Cher: I totally paused.1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Dionne Davenport (Stacey Dash), spoken by Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone)
- An expression of puzzlement or discovery.
- Hello! What’s going on here?
- Synonyms:
- adzooks, ay, caramba, mirabile dictu, chihuahua, begorra, bleeding heck, bleeding Nora, bless my heart, bless my soul
Noun
hello (plural hellos or helloes)
- "Hello!" or an equivalent greeting.
- They gave each other a quick hello when they met, and went back on their merry ways.
- In many new buildings, though, neighbors are venturing beyond tight-lipped hellos at the mailbox.2007 April 29, Stephanie Rosenbloom, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- greeting
Verb
hello (third-person singular simple present hellos or helloes, present participle helloing, simple past and past participle helloed)
- To greet (someone) with "hello".
- She is there guarding and looking after the candy and the children generally, and she helloes and renders an exclamation that Maidie is crossing the street.1891, Records and Briefs in Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of Minnesota, page 227
- He helloes to my daughter:[…]1927, Ohio State Engineer, page 18
hello meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
hello in Hindi
- greeting
- नमस्ते namaste, नमस्कार namaskār, सलाम salām, सत श्री अकाल sat śrī akāl, हेलो helo, हलो halo
- when answering the telephone
- हलो halo, हैलो hailo, हेलो helo
hello in Tamil
- greeting
- வணக்கம் vaṇakkam
hello in Marathi
- greeting
- नमस्कार namaskār
- when answering the telephone
- हॅलो hĕlo
hello in Urdu
- greeting
- سَلام عَلَیکُم salām 'alaikum, اَلسَّلامُ عَلَیکُم as-salāmu 'alaikum, آداب ādāb
- when answering the telephone
- ہَیلو hailo, ہیلو helo, ہَلو halo
- is anyone there?
- کوئی ہے؟ ko͞i hai?
More languagesFewer languages
- hello in Bengali
- আসসালামু আলাইকুম assalamu alaikum, সালাম salam, নমস্কার nomoskar, হ্যালো hêlō
- hello in Telugu
- నమసకారం namasakāraṁ, బాగున్నారా bāgunnārā, ఎవరైనా ఉంది evarainā undi
- hello in Malayalam
- ഹലോ halō, നമസ്തേ namastē, നമസ്കാരം namaskāraṁ
- hello in Kannada
- ತುಳಿಲು tuḷilu, ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ namaskāra
- hello in Punjabi
- ਸਤਿ ਸ਼੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ sati śrī akāl
- hello in Gujarati
- નમસ્તે namaste, નમસ્કાર namaskār
- hello in Odia
- ନମସ୍କାର namaskāra, ହ୍ୟାଲୋ hyālo
- hello in Sanskrit
- नमस्कार namaskāra, नमस्ते namaste, नमो नमः namo namaḥ
- hello in Sinhala
- හලෝ halō, ආයුබෝවන් āyubōwan
- hello in Assamese
- নমস্কাৰ nomoskar, আচ্চেলামো আলাইকোম asselamü alaiküm, হেল’ helö, কোনোবা আছেনে? künüba asene?
- hello in Nepali
- नमस्ते namaste, नमस्कार namaskār, हेलो helo, हलो halo
- hello in Pashto
- سلام salām, سلام الېک slāmālék, السلام عليکم as-salám alaykúm
- hello in Tagalog
- kamusta, kumusta, musta, hoy
- hello in Arabic
- السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ as-salāmu ʕalaykum, سَلَام salām, مَرْحَبًا marḥaban, أَهْلًا ʔahlan
- hello in Malay
- helo, apa khabar, salam
- hello in Indonesian
- hai, salam, halo
- hello in Persian
- سَلَام salām, سَلَام عَلَیْکُم salām alaykum, دُرود durōd, دَرُود darūd
- hello in Thai
- สวัสดี sà-wàt-dii, สวัสดีครับ sà-wàt-dii, สวัสดีค่ะ sà-wàt-dii, หวัดดี wàt-dii
- hello in Vietnamese
- xin chào, chào, a-lô, ơi
- hello in Myanmar
- မင်္ဂလာပါ mangga.lapa, ဟဲလို hai:lui, အမိန့်ရှိပါ a.min.hri.pa
- Sindhi
- هيلو elo
- Dhivehi
- އައްސަލާމު ޢަލައިކުމް assalāmu ʿalaikum̊
Examples of hello in a sentence
- If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite.
- Hello Mrs Miggins. Did we manage to wash ourself this morning?
- Hello Mrs Miggins. Did we manage to wash ourselves this morning?
Synonyms of hello
- ay
- caramba
- mirabile dictu
- chihuahua
- bleeding heck
- bleeding Nora
- bless my heart
- bless my soul
- bless us
- blige
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- blimey
- bloody hell
- bloody Nora
- blow me down
- butter my butt and call me a biscuit
- by all that is holy
- by Allah
- by cracky
- by George
- by God
- by golly
- by gosh
- by gum
- by gummy
- by jingo
- by Jove
- by juckies
- by Jupiter
- by thunder
- by the living jingo
- Christ
- Christ alive
- Christ almighty
- Christ on a bike
- Christ on a cracker
- Christ on a raft
- Christ on a stick
- Christ on a crutch
- coo
- cor
Antonyms
Forms of hello
| Interjection | |
|---|---|
| alternative UK | hullo |
| alternative UK (dated) | hallo |
| alternative UK (dated) | hollo |
| alternative form (obsolete) | hilloa |
| Noun | |
| plural | hellos |
| plural | helloes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | hellos |
| third-person singular present | helloes |
| present participle | helloing |
| past participle | helloed |
| past | helloed |
Origin of hello
First attested in 1826. From holla, hollo (attested 1588). This variant of hallo is often credited to Thomas Edison as a coinage for telephone use, but its appearance in print predates the invention of the telephone by several decades. Ultimately from a variant of Old English ēalā, such as hēlā, which was used colloquially at the time similarly to how hey and (in some dialects) hi are used nowadays. Thus, equivalent to a compound of hey and lo. Used when drawing attention to yourself. Possibly influenced by Old Saxon halo, imperative of halōn (“to call, fetch”), used in hailing a ferryman, akin to Old High German hala, hola!, imperative forms of halōn, holōn (“to fetch”). For more information, see hallo. The Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Dictionary also suggested that it is a variant of holla, a variant of holloo. Further beyond, the origin remains uncertain. OED and Merriam-Webster suggested that it has a connection between hallow (“to shout, to cry out loud”), which came from Old French holloer, which, according to Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, is from Old Saxon halōn.
Words formed from hello
Phrases with hello
Words that rhyme with hello
10 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about hello
- What does hello mean?
- Hello means a greeting (salutation) said when meeting someone or acknowledging someone’s arrival or presence.
- What is hello in Hindi?
- Hello in Hindi is नमस्ते (namaste), नमस्कार (namaskār), सलाम (salām). See Hello meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is hello?
- Hello can be an interjection, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce hello?
- Hello is pronounced /hɛˈloʊ/ (US).
Words near hello in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hello (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-hello.ogg, En-au-hello.ogg.
Cite this entry: “hello.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hello. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.