Word.ws English Dictionary

what say you

UK/ˌ(h)wɒt seɪ ˈjuː//ˌ(h)wʌt seɪ ˈju/

what say you phrase: what do you say? What is your opinion?

Phrase

what say you?

  1. (formal) What do you say? What is your opinion?
    • But vvhat ſay you novv? there is a Trout novv, and a good one too, if I can but hold him; and tvvo or three turns more vvill tire him: […]1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter II, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC...
    • "What say you, my friend," cried the traveller, turning pleasantly to Natty's companion; "shall we toss up this dollar for the honour, and you keep the silver if you lose – what say you, friend?"1823, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter I, in The Pioneers, or The Sources of the Susquehanna; […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Charles Wiley; […], →OCLC, page 13
    Synonyms:
    how say you
    1. (formal) When addressed to a defendant in court: how do you plead? Also, when addressed to a jury or its foreperson: what is your verdict?
  2. (informal) Sometimes followed by if: how about or what about (something)?
  3. (informal) Followed by to: do you fancy, or would you like (something, such as an activity or a drink or a food item)?
    • If vve ſhould reuell much, therefore vve vvill haue / Some halfe a dozen frends and make no more adoe. / But vvhat ſay you to Thurſday.c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]
    • VVhat ſay you to a leg of Beef novv, ſirha?c. 1613 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Tragedie of Bonduca”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II...

Synonyms of what say you

Origin of what say you

Early Modern English syntax for what do you say; at the time, do-support was not yet obligatory. Compare Middle English what seien ye.

Words that rhyme with what say you

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about what say you

What does what say you mean?
What say you means what do you say? What is your opinion?
What part of speech is what say you?
What say you is a phrase.
How do you pronounce what say you?
What say you is pronounced /ˌ(h)wɒt seɪ ˈjuː/ (UK).

Words near what say you in the dictionary

  1. what o'clock is it
  2. what of
  3. what of it
  4. what price
  5. what say
  6. what say you
  7. what seems to be the problem
  8. what should I do
  9. what someone is about
  10. what someone is made of
  11. what someone said

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: what say you (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-what say you.wav.

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