"what the hell" meaning in English

See what the hell in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Audio: En-au-what the hell.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: Shortened from earlier what in the hell. Etymology templates: {{m|en|what in the hell}} what in the hell Head templates: {{head|en|phrase|head=what the hell}} what the hell
  1. (mildly vulgar, slang) An intensive form of what. Tags: mildly, slang, vulgar Translations (an intensive form of what): مَاذَا بِحَقّ اَلسَّمَاء (māḏā bi-ḥaqq as-samāʔ) (Arabic), какво по дяволите (kakvo po djavolite) (Bulgarian), 乜鬼 (Chinese Cantonese), 什麼鬼 (Chinese Mandarin), 什么鬼 (shénme guǐ?) (Chinese Mandarin), hvad helvede (Danish), wat voor de donder? (Dutch), wat donder? (Dutch), kio diable (Esperanto), mitä helvettiä? (Finnish), mitä hittoa? (Finnish), que diable (French), que carallo? (Galician), que demos? (Galician), was zum Teufel? (German), was zur Hölle (German), τι διάολο; (ti diáolo?) (Greek), τι στο διάολο; (ti sto diáolo?) (Greek), τι στο καλό; (ti sto kaló?) (Greek), מָה לַעֲזָאזֵל (ma laazazél) (Hebrew), mi a fene? (Hungarian), mi az ördög? (Hungarian), mi az isten? [offensive, possibly] (Hungarian), hvað í fjandanum? (Icelandic), hvað í helvítinu? (Icelandic), che diavolo? cosa diavolo? (Italian), 一体なんだ? (ittai nan da?) (alt: いったいなんだ?) (Japanese), 一体全体なんだ? (ittai-zentai nan da?) (alt: いったいぜんたいなんだ?) (Japanese), なんだよ、これ? (nan da yo, kore?) (Japanese), 알게 뭐야? (alge mwo-ya?) (Korean), wat to'n Düvel? [German-Low-German] (Low German), shash líyáadi (Navajo), hva i helvete? (Norwegian Bokmål), hva faen? (Norwegian Bokmål), kva i helvete? (Norwegian Nynorsk), kva i svarte? (Norwegian Nynorsk), kva faen? (Norwegian Nynorsk), چه مرگته؟ (Persian), چه مرضته؟ (Persian), que diabos? (Portuguese), ce dracu (Romanian), ce naiba (Romanian), что за чёрт? (što za čort?) (Russian), како́го чёрта? (kakóvo čórta?) (Russian), что за чертовщи́на? (što za čertovščína?) (Russian), что за фигня́? (što za fignjá?) (Russian), како́го хре́на? (kakóvo xréna?) [vulgar] (Russian), како́го ху́я? (kakóvo xúja?) [vulgar] (Russian), что за хуйня́? (što za xujnjá?) [vulgar] (Russian), koji vrag? [Roman] (Serbo-Croatian), koji kurac? (english: very vulgar) [Roman, slang] (Serbo-Croatian), qué diablos (Spanish), vad i helvete? (Swedish), vad tusan? (Swedish), vad fan (Swedish), vafan (Swedish), ฉิบหาย (chìp-hǎai) (Thai), яко́го бі́са? (jakóho bísa?) (Ukrainian), що за біс? (ščo za bis?) (Ukrainian), éo biết (Vietnamese), cái quái gì (Vietnamese)
    Sense id: en-what_the_hell-en-phrase-V4xV4Ot5 Disambiguation of 'an intensive form of what': 100 0
  2. (mildly vulgar, slang) Indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance: Why not? Who cares? Tags: mildly, slang, vulgar Categories (topical): English rhetorical questions Synonyms: the fuck, the hell, what on earth, what the fuck, what the heck, what the what, what the hey Derived forms: the hell Related terms: the hell, the hell you say Translations (why not?): hvad fanden (Danish), lekker boeiend (Dutch), ach schijt (Dutch), mitä hittoa (Finnish), pourquoi pas (French), que carallo! (Galician), was soll's (German), scheiß drauf (German), egye fene (Hungarian), skítt með það (Icelandic), che diavolo (Italian), perche no (Italian), faen heller (Norwegian), søren heller (Norwegian), que se dane (Portuguese), dane-se (Portuguese), чем чёрт не шу́тит? (čem čort ne šútit?) (Russian), была́ не была́ (bylá ne bylá) (Russian), чёрт с ним (čort s nim) (Russian), vad fan (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-what_the_hell-en-phrase-N6-DVKLw Disambiguation of English rhetorical questions: 1 99 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English interrogative pronouns, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 3 97 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 2 98 Disambiguation of English interrogative pronouns: 8 92 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 3 97 Disambiguation of 'why not?': 0 100

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for what the hell meaning in English (13.7kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "what in the hell"
      },
      "expansion": "what in the hell",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Shortened from earlier what in the hell.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase",
        "head": "what the hell"
      },
      "expansion": "what the hell",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What the hell is going on?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An intensive form of what."
      ],
      "id": "en-what_the_hell-en-phrase-V4xV4Ot5",
      "links": [
        [
          "what",
          "what"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(mildly vulgar, slang) An intensive form of what."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "mildly",
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "māḏā bi-ḥaqq as-samāʔ",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "مَاذَا بِحَقّ اَلسَّمَاء"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "kakvo po djavolite",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "какво по дяволите"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "乜鬼"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "什麼鬼"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "shénme guǐ?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "什么鬼"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "hvad helvede"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "wat voor de donder?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "wat donder?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "kio diable"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "mitä helvettiä?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "mitä hittoa?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "que diable"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "que carallo?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "que demos?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "was zum Teufel?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "was zur Hölle"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "ti diáolo?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "τι διάολο;"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "ti sto diáolo?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "τι στο διάολο;"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "ti sto kaló?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "τι στο καλό;"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "ma laazazél",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "מָה לַעֲזָאזֵל"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "mi a fene?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "mi az ördög?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "tags": [
            "offensive",
            "possibly"
          ],
          "word": "mi az isten?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "hvað í fjandanum?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "hvað í helvítinu?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "che diavolo? cosa diavolo?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "alt": "いったいなんだ?",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "ittai nan da?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "一体なんだ?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "alt": "いったいぜんたいなんだ?",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "ittai-zentai nan da?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "一体全体なんだ?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "nan da yo, kore?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "なんだよ、これ?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "alge mwo-ya?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "알게 뭐야?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "nds-de",
          "lang": "Low German",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "tags": [
            "German-Low-German"
          ],
          "word": "wat to'n Düvel?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "nv",
          "lang": "Navajo",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "shash líyáadi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "hva i helvete?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "hva faen?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "kva i helvete?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "kva i svarte?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "kva faen?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "چه مرگته؟"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "چه مرضته؟"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "que diabos?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "ce dracu"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "ce naiba"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "što za čort?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "что за чёрт?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kakóvo čórta?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "како́го чёрта?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "što za čertovščína?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "что за чертовщи́на?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "što za fignjá?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "что за фигня́?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kakóvo xréna?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "tags": [
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "како́го хре́на?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kakóvo xúja?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "tags": [
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "како́го ху́я?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "što za xujnjá?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "tags": [
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "что за хуйня́?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "tags": [
            "Roman"
          ],
          "word": "koji vrag?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "sh",
          "english": "very vulgar",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "tags": [
            "Roman",
            "slang"
          ],
          "word": "koji kurac?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "qué diablos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "vad i helvete?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "vad tusan?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "vad fan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "vafan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "roman": "chìp-hǎai",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "ฉิบหาย"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "jakóho bísa?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "яко́го бі́са?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "ščo za bis?",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "що за біс?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "éo biết"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "an intensive form of what",
          "word": "cái quái gì"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "3 97",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 98",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 92",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English interrogative pronouns",
          "parents": [
            "Interrogative pronouns",
            "Interrogative pro-forms",
            "Pronouns",
            "Pro-forms",
            "Lemmas",
            "Terms by semantic function"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 97",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "1 99",
          "kind": "topical",
          "name": "English rhetorical questions",
          "parents": [
            "Rhetorical questions",
            "Idioms",
            "Questions",
            "Sentences",
            "Figures of speech",
            "Multiword terms",
            "Terms by semantic function",
            "Rhetoric",
            "Lemmas",
            "Language",
            "Communication",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "6 94",
          "word": "the hell"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It’s expensive, but what the hell, you only live once."
        },
        {
          "text": "Surprisingly, dieters ate more ice cream after eating a large milkshake than after eating a small one. Dr. Polivy calls this the “What the hell” effect, which she describes as thinking “What the hell, my diet’s already broken, so I might as well eat everything in sight.”"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1927, Don Marquis, “song of mehitabel”, in archy and mehitabel",
          "text": "i have had my ups and downs / but wotthehell wotthehell / yesterday sceptres and crowns / fried oysters and velvet gowns / and today i herd with bums / but wotthehell wotthehell",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance: Why not? Who cares?"
      ],
      "id": "en-what_the_hell-en-phrase-N6-DVKLw",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(mildly vulgar, slang) Indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance: Why not? Who cares?"
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "6 94",
          "word": "the hell"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 94",
          "word": "the hell you say"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "24 76",
          "word": "the fuck"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "24 76",
          "word": "the hell"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "24 76",
          "word": "what on earth"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "24 76",
          "word": "what the fuck"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "24 76",
          "word": "what the heck"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "24 76",
          "word": "what the what"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "24 76",
          "word": "what the hey"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "mildly",
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "hvad fanden"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "lekker boeiend"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "ach schijt"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "mitä hittoa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "pourquoi pas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "que carallo!"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "was soll's"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "scheiß drauf"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "egye fene"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "skítt með það"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "che diavolo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "perche no"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "faen heller"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "søren heller"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "que se dane"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "dane-se"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "čem čort ne šútit?",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "чем чёрт не шу́тит?"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "bylá ne bylá",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "была́ не была́"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "čort s nim",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "чёрт с ним"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "why not?",
          "word": "vad fan"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-what the hell.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/11/En-au-what_the_hell.ogg/En-au-what_the_hell.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/En-au-what_the_hell.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "what the hell"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English interrogative pronouns",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrases",
    "English rhetorical questions",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "the hell"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "what in the hell"
      },
      "expansion": "what in the hell",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Shortened from earlier what in the hell.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase",
        "head": "what the hell"
      },
      "expansion": "what the hell",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "the hell"
    },
    {
      "word": "the hell you say"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English vulgarities"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What the hell is going on?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An intensive form of what."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "what",
          "what"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(mildly vulgar, slang) An intensive form of what."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "mildly",
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English vulgarities",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It’s expensive, but what the hell, you only live once."
        },
        {
          "text": "Surprisingly, dieters ate more ice cream after eating a large milkshake than after eating a small one. Dr. Polivy calls this the “What the hell” effect, which she describes as thinking “What the hell, my diet’s already broken, so I might as well eat everything in sight.”"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1927, Don Marquis, “song of mehitabel”, in archy and mehitabel",
          "text": "i have had my ups and downs / but wotthehell wotthehell / yesterday sceptres and crowns / fried oysters and velvet gowns / and today i herd with bums / but wotthehell wotthehell",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance: Why not? Who cares?"
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(mildly vulgar, slang) Indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance: Why not? Who cares?"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "mildly",
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-what the hell.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/11/En-au-what_the_hell.ogg/En-au-what_the_hell.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/En-au-what_the_hell.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "the fuck"
    },
    {
      "word": "the hell"
    },
    {
      "word": "what on earth"
    },
    {
      "word": "what the fuck"
    },
    {
      "word": "what the heck"
    },
    {
      "word": "what the what"
    },
    {
      "word": "what the hey"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "māḏā bi-ḥaqq as-samāʔ",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "مَاذَا بِحَقّ اَلسَّمَاء"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "kakvo po djavolite",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "какво по дяволите"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "乜鬼"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "什麼鬼"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "shénme guǐ?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "什么鬼"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "hvad helvede"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "wat voor de donder?"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "wat donder?"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "kio diable"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "mitä helvettiä?"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "mitä hittoa?"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "que diable"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "que carallo?"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "que demos?"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "was zum Teufel?"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "was zur Hölle"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "ti diáolo?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "τι διάολο;"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "ti sto diáolo?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "τι στο διάολο;"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "ti sto kaló?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "τι στο καλό;"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "ma laazazél",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "מָה לַעֲזָאזֵל"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "mi a fene?"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "mi az ördög?"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "tags": [
        "offensive",
        "possibly"
      ],
      "word": "mi az isten?"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "hvað í fjandanum?"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "hvað í helvítinu?"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "che diavolo? cosa diavolo?"
    },
    {
      "alt": "いったいなんだ?",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "ittai nan da?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "一体なんだ?"
    },
    {
      "alt": "いったいぜんたいなんだ?",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "ittai-zentai nan da?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "一体全体なんだ?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "nan da yo, kore?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "なんだよ、これ?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "alge mwo-ya?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "알게 뭐야?"
    },
    {
      "code": "nds-de",
      "lang": "Low German",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "tags": [
        "German-Low-German"
      ],
      "word": "wat to'n Düvel?"
    },
    {
      "code": "nv",
      "lang": "Navajo",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "shash líyáadi"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "hva i helvete?"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "hva faen?"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "kva i helvete?"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "kva i svarte?"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "kva faen?"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "چه مرگته؟"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "چه مرضته؟"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "que diabos?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "ce dracu"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "ce naiba"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "što za čort?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "что за чёрт?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kakóvo čórta?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "како́го чёрта?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "što za čertovščína?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "что за чертовщи́на?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "što za fignjá?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "что за фигня́?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kakóvo xréna?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "како́го хре́на?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kakóvo xúja?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "како́го ху́я?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "što za xujnjá?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "что за хуйня́?"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "tags": [
        "Roman"
      ],
      "word": "koji vrag?"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "english": "very vulgar",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "tags": [
        "Roman",
        "slang"
      ],
      "word": "koji kurac?"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "qué diablos"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "vad i helvete?"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "vad tusan?"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "vad fan"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "vafan"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "roman": "chìp-hǎai",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "ฉิบหาย"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "jakóho bísa?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "яко́го бі́са?"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "ščo za bis?",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "що за біс?"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "éo biết"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "an intensive form of what",
      "word": "cái quái gì"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "hvad fanden"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "lekker boeiend"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "ach schijt"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "mitä hittoa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "pourquoi pas"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "que carallo!"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "was soll's"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "scheiß drauf"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "egye fene"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "skítt með það"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "che diavolo"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "perche no"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "faen heller"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "søren heller"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "que se dane"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "dane-se"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "čem čort ne šútit?",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "чем чёрт не шу́тит?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "bylá ne bylá",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "была́ не была́"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "čort s nim",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "чёрт с ним"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "why not?",
      "word": "vad fan"
    }
  ],
  "word": "what the hell"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.