hurrah

hurrah — exclamation

1. a word people cry out when they feel great happiness about something that happen

1.exclamationA2
Definition

a word people cry out when they feel great happiness about something that happened, or when they want to express strong approval of someone or something.

Example

Hana clenched her fists and shouted 'Hurrah!' when she heard the news.

stand-alone exclamation expressing personal joy

'Hurrah for the volunteers!' Quan said, raising his glass at the celebration dinner.

pattern: hurrah for [noun phrase]

Common collocations
  • shout hurrah
  • call out hurrah
  • cry hurrah
  • hurrah for
Synonyms
  • hooray

    most common modern spelling variant of the same word

  • yay

    more informal, common in text messages and casual speech

  • woohoo

    more playful and spontaneous, less traditional

Antonyms
  • boo

    used to show disapproval, the opposite of cheering

Grammar Patterns

Hurrah! (stand-alone)

Hurrah for [noun phrase]!

Usage Note

Also commonly spelled 'hooray' or 'hurray'. 'Hooray' is the most frequent spelling in modern English. The word is a fixed exclamation — it is not used as a verb (❌ 'He hurrahed the team').

Common Mistakes

I hurrah at the game.
I shouted "Hurrah!" at the game.
Hurrah is an exclamation, not a verb, so it cannot take an object or be conjugated.

hurrah — noun

Word family

  • hooray
    exclamationA2
  • hurray
    exclamationA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: exclamation/1

'Hurrah', 'hooray', and 'hurray' are spelling variants of the same interjection, with 'hooray' being the most frequent in modern written English. 'Yay' (sometimes spelled 'yea') is an informal, enthusiastic cry used in everyday speech to express triumph or excitement, especially among younger speakers; it is much more common in text messages than 'hurrah'. 'Bravo' is borrowed from Italian and is reserved almost exclusively for praising a performer after a theatre, concert, or opera performance — using it in everyday contexts sounds theatrical. 'Woohoo' is a lively, playful exclamation that conveys spontaneous, unrestrained joy, common in casual conversation. To illustrate: a crowd at a football match shouts 'Hurrah!' or 'Hooray!', a child might yell 'Yay!' upon hearing about ice cream, an opera audience calls 'Bravo!', and someone on a rollercoaster screams 'Woohoo!'.

hoorayhurrayyaybravowoohoo

Common collocations

Phrases

  • with much hurrah
  • a big hurrah
  • what's all the hurrah about?
  • all the hurrah
  • make a hurrah about

Prepositions

  • hurrah for

Etymology

GermanEnglish

The word 'hurrah' first appeared in English in the late 1600s as a military cry of exultation and encouragement. It was likely borrowed from German 'hurra', which itself may have come from an older word meaning 'to move quickly' — originally a call urging soldiers forward into battle. Over time it evolved from a war cry into a general exclamation of celebration and approval. Alternative spellings 'hooray' and 'hurray' appeared in the 1700s and 1800s.