Word.ws English Dictionary

lah

/lɑː/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Malaysia/lɑː/

lah is the alternative spelling of la.

Particle

lah

  1. Placed at the end of a sentence to accentuate the mood or attitude of the speaker.
    • Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑ(ː)˨], mid-falling [lɑː˧˨]
    • Don’t do it lah, it’s not worth it.
  2. Placed at the end of a sentence to convey reassurance or express solidarity.
    • Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑ(ː)˨], mid-falling [lɑː˧˨]
    • You won’t drown one lah. The water is very shallow.
  3. Indicates an attempt at expressing sympathy, conveying informality or sincerity, or establishing a rapport with the listener.
    • Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑ(ː)˨]
    • Just try your best lah, and don’t think too much about it.
  4. Placed at the end of an assertive statement to express denial or dismissiveness.
    • Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑ(ː)˨], mid-falling [lɑː˧˨]
    • — I don’t think you should be cutting corners, at least put in some effort and make it look legit.
      — They won’t care one lah... I don’t have all day...
  5. Used after an assertive statement to reinforce its authoritativeness, or to show that the speaker is confident with what they are saying.
    • Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑ(ː)˨], mid-falling [lɑː˧˨]
    • These shoes are too small lah.
  6. Asserts that something is clear, obvious or straightforward.
    • Pitch contour: falling [lɑ(ː)˦˨]
    • Near-synonym: lor (sense 2)
    Synonyms:
    lor
  7. Used to tone down an imperative sentence, so it sounds more like a request or suggestion.
    • Pitch contour: falling [lɑ(ː)˦˨]
    • I remember my friends telling me, 'People already say you're an artist, then be one lah.'2013 June 18, Huang Lijie, quoting Samantha Lo, “Sticking to budding artist label”, in The Straits Times, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited, LIFE! Arts, page 2
  8. Indicates strong persuasion at the end of an imperative sentence.
    • Pitch contour: mid-falling [lɑː˧˨]
    • Don’t waste your time there lah.
  9. Indicates a retrospective remark or a reassessment of one’s opinion.
    • Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑ(ː)˨], mid-falling [lɑː˧˨]
    • — Not many people would think of using a pressure cooker.
      — I mean, it’s pretty unconventional lah, I have to admit.
  10. Reinforces a suggestion with the implication that it is the more practical option.
    • Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑ(ː)˨], mid-falling [lɑː˧˨]
    • The nearest train station is 15 minutes away. I think we take the bus lah, hor?
  11. Indicates confirmation-seeking at the end of an inferential statement.
    • Pitch contour: falling [lɑː˦˨]
    • In other words, you’re the one who started it lah!
  12. Used to express realisation, or vexation when something is already obvious.
    • Pitch contour: falling [lɑː˦˨]
    • So in the end it wasn’t my fault lah!
Show 5 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (uncommon) Reinforces the factuality of an assertive statement made to correct an inaccurate, underlying assumption.
    • Pitch contour: mid-rising [lɑ(ː)˧˦]
    • Oh wait it’s not today, lah. It’s on Sunday.
  2. (uncommon) Used to convey a slight sense of dissatisfaction or irritation.
    • Pitch contour: mid-rising [lɑ(ː)˧˦]
  3. (uncommon) Used for enumeration (when listing examples).
    • Pitch contour: mid [lɑː˧]
    • He teach them how to cook lah, learn computer lah... […]2010, Haresh Sharma, Those Who Can't, Teach, Epigram Books, Act I, scene ii
  4. (Malaysia, uncommon) An assertive separator, used to reverse the order of the usual topic–comment structure of a sentence.
    • Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑ(ː)˨]
    • No fun lah, you.
  5. (uncommon) Used sarcastically.
    • Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑː˨], (in the example below) high-mid [lɑ(ː)˦]
    • No lah, no lah.

Meaning of la

Noun (1)

la (plural las)

  1. A syllable used in solfège to represent the sixth note of a major scale.
    • And now Mrs Waters (for we must confess she was in the same bed), being, I suppose, awakened from her sleep, and seeing two men fighting in her bedchamber, began to scream in the most violent manner, crying out murder! robbery! and more frequently rape! which last, some, perhaps, may wonder she...1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
    1. Sometimes syllable for both the third and the sixth.

Noun (2)

la (plural las)

  1. (Liverpool) lad, kid

See all 10 meanings of la

Noun capitalized: LAH

LAH

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of lithium aluminium hydride.
  2. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of licentiate of the Apothecaries' Hall

Proper noun capitalized: Lah

Lah

  1. A locality in the Shire of Yarriambiack, north western Victoria, Australia.

Synonyms of lah

Forms of lah

Noun
plurallahs
Particle
alternative formla
alternative formlar

Origin of lah

An anglicised spelling of la.

From Malay lah, Hokkien 啦 (--la) and Cantonese 啦 (laa¹). Doublet of la in colloquial Hong Kong English. Lim (2007) lists multiple sources: * Bazaar Malay, for its use as a particle of emphasis (akin to Malay lah), and the senses expressing commands, invitations and "solidarity, familiarity [and] informality". * Hokkien 啦 (--la), which indicates finality, completion and confirmation-seeking, as well as "emphasis, persuasiveness, dismissiveness [and] listing". * Cantonese 啦 (laa¹), expressing a "general lack of definiteness or forcefulness", and for its role in softening commands.

Phrases with lah

Words that rhyme with lah

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about lah

What does lah mean?
Lah means placed at the end of a sentence to accentuate the mood or attitude of the speaker.
What is lah the alternative spelling of?
Lah is the alternative spelling of la.
What part of speech is lah?
Lah can be a particle, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce lah?
Lah is pronounced /lɑː/.

Words near lah in the dictionary

  1. lagunites
  2. Lagus
  3. Laguña Creek
  4. Lagva
  5. lagwort
  6. lah
  7. Lah number
  8. Lah numbers
  9. lah-de-dah
  10. lah-di-dah
  11. Lahad Datu

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lah (page history and authors); LAH (page history and authors); Lah (page history and authors); la (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lah.wav.

Cite this entry: “lah.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lah. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.