Word.ws English Dictionary

oy vay

oy vay is the alternative spelling of oy vey.

Meaning of oy vey

Interjection

  1. (slang, ascribed to Jewish people, potentially offensive) oh dear
    • Alternatively, some view "oy vey" as being entirely Yiddish (Judeo-German) in origin.2025 December 18 (last accessed), “What Does “Oy Vey” Mean?”, in Chabad.org, archived from the original on 13 May 2025

See all 2 meanings of oy vey

Questions about oy vay

What is oy vay the alternative spelling of?
Oy vay is the alternative spelling of oy vey.

Words near oy vay in the dictionary

  1. oxywelds
  2. oy
  3. oy gevalt
  4. oy gewalt
  5. oy vavoy
  6. oy vay
  7. oy vey
  8. oy veyed
  9. oy veying
  10. oy veys
  11. oy-vey

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: oy vay (page history and authors); oy vey (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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Cite this entry: “oy vay.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/oy_vay. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.