bah
intjUK /bæ/
Etymology Early 19th century, probably borrowed from French bah.
1
Humorous, Sometimes Expressing contempt, disgust, or bad temper.
- "To the doctor's? Bah!" said the sorceress, and spat upon the floor.1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 301:
- This process being entirely inadequate to express the nature of his emotions he ejaculated "Bah!" and so gave Cripps to understand that he was now removed from consideration as a human being.1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 141:
2 more examples
- “Bah!” cried the woman. “My husband will know!”1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Forging Bonds of Hate and ——?”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 22:
- Templeton looked over the assembled servants speculatively, then shrugged. "Bah!" he said. "They're of no use to me. Come, Andrew, a word with you upstairs."1992, April Kihlstrom, Dangerous Masquerade:
- Synonyms
- Derived terms
- bah humbug, pooh-bah, poobah