Word.ws English Dictionary

the measles

the measles phrase: used after interrogative pronouns as an intensifier to express anger, frustration, incredulity, or other strong emotion. Also the alternative form of measles.

Phrase

the measles

  1. (euphemistic, obsolete) Used after interrogative pronouns as an intensifier to express anger, frustration, incredulity, or other strong emotion.
    • What the measles do you think you're doing?
    • Why the meazills, should you stand heere, with your traine...1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631...

Also used as

the measles is also the alternative form of measles.

Synonyms of the measles

Origin of the measles

See measles.

Questions about the measles

What does the measles mean?
The measles means used after interrogative pronouns as an intensifier to express anger, frustration, incredulity, or other strong emotion.
What part of speech is the measles?
The measles is a phrase.

Words near the measles in the dictionary

  1. the math ain't mathing
  2. the math is mathing
  3. the Mbappé special
  4. the Mbappé specials
  5. The Meadows
  6. the measles
  7. the measure of a man
  8. the mill cannot grind with water that is past
  9. the mills of the gods grind slowly
  10. the mind boggles
  11. the mixture as before

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the measles (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: “the measles.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/the_measles. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.