Word.ws English Dictionary

yirra

/ˈjɜrə/

yirra interjection: an exclamation used to express shock or exasperation.

Interjection

  1. (South Africa, colloquial, offensive, possibly) An exclamation used to express shock or exasperation.
    • We’re going to have a hell of a drought. Yirra it’s tough being a farmer!1987, Marguerite Poland, Train to Doringbult, page 11

Forms of yirra

alternative formjinne
alternative formjirr
alternative formjirra
alternative formjirre

Origin of yirra

From Afrikaans jere, a minced oath or alteration of Heere or Here (“Lord, God”, interjection), derived from Heer (“Lord”).

Questions about yirra

What does yirra mean?
Yirra means an exclamation used to express shock or exasperation.
What part of speech is yirra?
Yirra is an interjection.
How do you pronounce yirra?
Yirra is pronounced /ˈjɜrə/.

Words near yirra in the dictionary

  1. yirks
  2. yirmilik
  3. yirmiliks
  4. yiros
  5. yiroses
  6. yirra
  7. yirratji
  8. yirratjis
  9. yis
  10. Yisangou
  11. Yishmael

Source and license

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