ouch
/ˈaʊt͡ʃ/
ouch interjection: an expression of one's own physical pain. Also the alternative form of ouche.
Interjection
- An expression of one's own physical pain.
- Ouch! You stepped on my toe! That hurt!
- An expression in sympathy at another's pain.
- Ouch! Her sunburn looks awful.
- A reply to an insult seen as savage (frequently one that is tongue-in-cheek or joking).
- Ouch. How could you say that?
- An expression of disappointment.
- Ouch, I really wanted to do that.
- Expressing surprise at the high price of something.
- Ouch, one hundred thousand dollars for a car! I could never afford that!
Noun
ouch (plural ouches)
- Something that causes discomfort or pain.
- RhuliGel soothes the itches and ouches of summer.1986 June, “RhuliGel Soothes the Itches and Ouches of Summer [advertisement]”, in Myrna Blyth, editor, Ladies’ Home Journal, volume CIII, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Meredith Publications, →ISSN...
- Synonyms:
- ooch
Verb
ouch (third-person singular simple present ouches, present participle ouching, simple past and past participle ouched)
- To exclaim "ouch!" in discomfort or pain.
- Imperturbability your skill, not mine / I ouch out loud and clear / Your forgiveness, like Pope's divine / I'm just an angry queer1984 April 21, “Mousie Mousie Wildflower”, in Gay Community News, page 18
Proper noun capitalized: Ouch
Ouch (plural Ouches)
- A surname.
Also used as
ouch is also the alternative form of ouche.
ouch meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
ouch in Hindi
- ओउच
ouch in Tamil
- expression of one’s own physical pain
- ஐயோ aiyō
ouch in Marathi
- ओउच
ouch in Urdu
- اووچ
More languagesFewer languages
- ouch in Bengali
- ওউচ, আউচ
- ouch in Telugu
- అభా abhā, అబ్బా abbā, అయ్యో ayyō
- ouch in Kannada
- ಊಚ್, ಔಚ್
- ouch in Punjabi
- ਓਊਚ, ਓਉਚ
- ouch in Gujarati
- ઓઉચ
- ouch in Pashto
- وخ wax, وئ wëy
- ouch in Tagalog
- aray, aruy, aguy, ay
- ouch in Arabic
- أَحّ ʔaḥḥ, حِلْيَة ḥilya
- ouch in Malay
- aduh, adoi, waduh
- ouch in Indonesian
- aduh
- ouch in Persian
- آخ âx, آی ây
- ouch in Thai
- อุ๊ย úi, อุ๊ยตาย úi-dtaai, โอ๊ย ói
- ouch in Vietnamese
- úi da, ai da, ui da, đau
Examples of ouch in a sentence
- Ouch! Don't sip your tea quite yet — it's still boiling hot!
- Ouch, I just hit my funny bone.
- Supporters of behaviorism claim that to be "in pain" is nothing more than the tendency to wince, yelp, scream "ouch!" and so on.
Synonyms of ouch
Forms of ouch
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ouches |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | ouches |
| present participle | ouching |
| past participle | ouched |
| past | ouched |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Ouches |
Origin of ouch
Uncertain. Some sources say the interjection is attested since 1838 (and specifically in American English) and derives ultimately from German autsch, perhaps specifically via Pennsylvania German outch (“cry of pain”), as early attestations of the interjection are from Pennsylvania. However, others say the interjection is a "mere" or "natural" exclamation attested since the mid 1600s, and the 1933 OED cites one instance of a verb "ouch" in 1654, "Sancho Pancas Runs Ouching round the mountaine like a ranck-Asse".
Variant forms.
Words formed from ouch
Words that rhyme with ouch
Questions about ouch
- What does ouch mean?
- Ouch means an expression of one's own physical pain.
- What is ouch in Hindi?
- Ouch in Hindi is ओउच. See Ouch meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is ouch?
- Ouch can be an interjection, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce ouch?
- Ouch is pronounced /ˈaʊt͡ʃ/.
Words near ouch in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ouch (page history and authors); Ouch (page history and authors); ouch (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ouch (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ouch (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ouch (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ouch (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ouch (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ouch (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-us-inlandnorth-ouch.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ouch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ouch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.