Learn Arabic › A1 › أَوَّه
أَوَّه
oh! (a groan of pain or grief) /ˈʔaw.wah/
otherA1#137 most common
Also: alas, ah, ouch
Example sentences
أَوَّه، رَأْسِي!
Oh, my head!
أَوَّه، كَمْ أَنا مُتْعَبٌ اليَوْم.
Oh, how tired I am today.
أَوَّه، لَقَدْ نَسِيتُ مِفْتاحِي في البَيْت.
Oh no, I left my key at home.
أَوَّه، لَوْ كُنْتُ أَعْلَمُ بِذلِكَ مِنْ قَبْل.
Alas, if only I had known about that beforehand.
أَوَّه، يا لَها مِنْ خَسارَةٍ فادِحَةٍ لا تُعَوَّض.
Alas, what a grievous, irreplaceable loss.
أَوَّه مِنْ زَمَنٍ صارَ فيهِ الصِّدْقُ غَريبًا بَيْنَ النّاس.
Alas for an age in which honesty has become a stranger among people.
Word family
آهah, oh (cry of pain)
تَأَوَّهَto sigh, to groan
تَأَوُّهsighing, groaning
أَوَّاهgiven much to sighing; contrite
Etymology
أَوَّه is an onomatopoeic interjection. It imitates the sound a person makes when sighing or groaning in pain. It belongs to the Arabic root ء-و-ه, which carries the sense of sighing, and it is close kin to the common interjection آه and the verb تَأَوَّهَ, to sigh. The same root gives the Quranic word أَوَّاه, used of one who sighs much in contrition.
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