yuck

Etymology

It is imitative,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} according to the Shorter Oxford of the sound of vomiting.^[7] Etymonline thinks it perhaps echoic and compares the Newfoundland slang verb of the same form meaning to vomit (1963), a US slang noun for a despised person (1942) and a provincial English noun for the itch or mange.^[8] The OED and the Shorter Oxford compare yech.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An exclamation of disgust or distaste: Green's Dictionary of Slang's first quotation, from W. R. Burnett's Little Men, Big World (1952), spells it yuk.^[9] Etymonline dates the exclamation to 1963,^[8] and Merriam-Webster and the OED to 1966, the OED's first record being in R. H. Rimmer.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Green's describes it as an all-purpose exclamation of distaste, mainly used by children, and records it from Australia in 1969, Britain in 1976 and New Zealand in 1981, spelled also yuk, yech, yecch, yeck, yeech and yick.^[9] From 1966 it was also a noun for messy or distasteful stuff,^[4] and it became an adjective, "disgusting", in 1971.^[4][9] An older noun yuck, a fool or anyone disliked, appears in 1943 in H. A. Smith's Life in a Putty Knife Factory, which says that Fred Allen introduced it;^[4][9][8] the OED leaves that noun's origin unknown, while Green's derives it from the exclamation.^[4][9] Collins labels the word slang.^[10]

Timeline

• 1943 – noun, a fool, a boor, anyone despised.^[4][9]
• 1952 – exclamation of disgust, spelled yuk.^[9] Merriam-Webster and the OED date the interjection to 1966.^[3][4]
• 1966 – noun, messy or distasteful matter.^[4]
• 1969 – the variant yech.^[4][8]
• 1971 – adjective, disgusting.^[4]

Meanings

Interjection

1. Used to express disgust or strong distaste: Yuck, this soup has gone cold and greasy!^{[2][3][10][5]}

Noun

1. Something messy or disgusting.^[5][4]
2. (US slang) A fool or a contemptible person.^[4][9][7]

Adjective

1. Disgusting or unpleasant; yucky.^[4][9]

Word family

• yucky

Related words

• yech

Usage notes

It is also spelled yuk.^{[2][3][10][5]} The North American slang verb yuck or yuk, to laugh heartily or fool around (yuck it up), with the noun "a laugh", is a separate word of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative.^[7][5][9][8] Johnson (1755) had a noun yuck, the itch, which he derived from Dutch,^[11] and Wright records Yorkshire yuck as a shout of triumph at a gathering.^[12]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)