Huh

Part of speech: interjection

Definitions

1. An interjection used to express surprise, confusion, or a request for repetition or clarification; can also indicate disbelief or skepticism; sometimes employed to prompt a response from someone else
2. A vocal expression signaling a lack of understanding, surprise, or the need to have something repeated; also used to question or challenge what has been said; can serve as a conversational filler
3. An utterance conveying confusion, disbelief, or prompting further explanation; commonly used to signal that one did not hear or understand properly; may also function as a response to unexpected information

Etymology: "Huh" is one of those words that seems too small to have a history, yet it has been recorded in English since about 1600. Its sound is far older than its spelling: it is an expression of bare surprise or puzzlement, the kind of noise a speaker makes before any words are available. Such noises rarely leave traces in dictionaries, which is why the word's arrival in print is the most concrete fact we have. The closest relative the record points to is the Dutch "hè", which carries the same sense of questioning surprise. Shared interjections like this tend to arise independently across languages, since almost everyone produces a similar sound when caught off guard, so the resemblance is a useful clue rather than proof of a single shared ancestor.

Synonyms: what, eh, pardon, excuse me