huat ah
[ˈhwʌɾ(˦)ɑː(˧˨)]
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Malaysia/ˈhwʌt(˦)ɑː(˧˨)/
huat ah interjection: a traditional, festive expression used to wish oneself prosperity.
Interjection
- A traditional, festive expression used to wish oneself prosperity.
- For some strange reasons, some people are shouting "Huat ah" as they toss paper money in the air.2012 December 24, Albert Tay, “Hungry Ghost Festival in Singapore”, in wordpress.com, retrieved 01 Apr 2016
- Huat ah! The pronunciation of "eight" in Hokkien (Chinese dialect) sounds similar to "Prosperity". Good luck and may you win the lottery!2014, Jane Lai, “Yusheng designs”, in pinterest.com, retrieved 01 Apr 2016
Verb
huat ah
- To prosper.
- This new year, all of us will huat ah!2008 December 31, babychloe, “TTCing2009/2010 babies grads”, in singaporemotherhood.com, retrieved 01 Apr 2016
- And, I wish everyone a Happy New Year for the upcoming new year. Let's Huat ah!!2010 December 27, Jaymeetan, “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all”, in wordpress.com, retrieved 02 Apr 2016
Examples of huat ah in a sentence
- The lo hei dish eaten by Singaporeans to herald the Chinese New Year with shouts of "Huat ah!” festive greetings exemplifies a Chinese cuisine with local Singaporean identity.2015, Yongnian Zheng, Liang Fook Lye, Singapore-China Relations, page 224:
- 12 New Stunning Looks Based On Your Zodiac to HUAT AH This Chinese New Year2016 January 11, Joyce Yang, “12 New Stunning Looks Based On Your Zodiac to HUAT AH This Chinese New Year”, in thesmartlocal.com, retrieved...
Origin of huat ah
From Hokkien 發啊 /发啊 (hoat--a), from 發 /发 (hoat, “to produce, to grow, to develop, to prosper, to pay out”) + 啊 (--a, “particle of exhortation”).
Questions about huat ah
- What does huat ah mean?
- Huat ah means a traditional, festive expression used to wish oneself prosperity.
- How do you use huat ah in a sentence?
- The lo hei dish eaten by Singaporeans to herald the Chinese New Year with shouts of "Huat ah!” festive greetings exemplifies a Chinese cuisine with local Singaporean identity.
- What part of speech is huat ah?
- Huat ah can be an interjection or a verb.
- How do you pronounce huat ah?
- Huat ah is pronounced /ˈhwʌt(˦)ɑː(˧˨)/ (Malaysia).
Words near huat ah in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: huat ah (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:
Cite this entry: “huat ah.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/huat_ah. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
