fie
intj/faɪ/
Etymology From Middle English fy, from Old French fi, from Latin fī. (with a possible additional influence from Old Norse). Compare Swedish fy.
1
Archaic Sometimes followed by on or upon: used to express distaste, disgust, or outrage.
- Fie, fie, vnknit that thretaning vnkinde brovv, / And dart not ſcornefull glances from thoſe eies, / To vvound thy Lord, thy King, thy Gouernour.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 229, column 1:
- Bian[ca]. I am no ſtrumpet, but of life as honeſt, / As you, that thus abuſe me. / Em[ilia]. As I: fough, fie vpon thee.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 89:
3 more examples
- "Fie upon them, forgetting their philosophy!"1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
- I pleaded with my companions to spare his life, and they said, ‘Fie! shame upon you! You have a Chinese heart.’ Then they turned upon me to kill me as well, so I withdrew my petition. After that they cut off the woodsman's head, and we returned home.1920 March, Alice Ballantine Kirjassoff (quote sourced to Kim Soan), “Formosa the Beautiful”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 284–285:
- But the orthodox scientific world says fie! to the religious impulse. The scientist wants to discover a cause for everything.1922, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Introduction”, in Fantasia of the Unconscious, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, page 4:
- Derived terms
- befie