Antonyms for hello


Grammar : Interj
Spell : he-loh, huh-, hel-oh
Phonetic Transcription : hɛˈloʊ, hə-, ˈhɛl oʊ


Definition of hello

Origin :
  • 1883, alteration of hallo, itself an alteration of holla, hollo, a shout to attract attention, which seems to go back to at least c.1400. Perhaps from holla! "stop, cease." OED cites Old High German hala, hola, emphatic imperative of halon, holon "to fetch," "used especially in hailing a ferryman." Fowler lists halloo, hallo, halloa, halloo, hello, hillo, hilloa, holla, holler, hollo, holloa, hollow, hullo, and writes, "The multiplicity of forms is bewildering ...." Popularity as a greeting coincides with use of the telephone, where it won out over Alexander Graham Bell's suggestion, ahoy. Central telephone exchange operators were known as hello-girls (1889).
  • Hello, formerly an Americanism, is now nearly as common as hullo in Britain (Say who you are; do not just say 'hello' is the warning given in our telephone directories) and the Englishman cannot be expected to give up the right to say hello if he likes it better than his native hullo. [H.W. Fowler, "A Dictionary of Modern English Usage," 1926]
  • interj how do you do
Example sentences :
  • Red he sees my pard passing a saloon, and he says, 'Hello, where did you come from?
  • Extract from : « A Woman Tenderfoot » by Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson
  • And then, catching sight of Kirkwood's countenance: "Why, hello, Kirkwood!"
  • Extract from : « The Black Bag » by Louis Joseph Vance
  • "Hello yourself and see how you like it," the mascot of the Ravens called down.
  • Extract from : « Pee-wee Harris » by Percy Keese Fitzhugh
  • "Hello, old man," he cried, shaking Trenton warmly by the hand.
  • Extract from : « One Day's Courtship » by Robert Barr
  • Why couldn't he ask me how I felt or pull my ear and say "Hello, Puss?"
  • Extract from : « The Harbor » by Ernest Poole
  • I fancy I rather overwhelmed him by exclaiming, "Hello, Sour-dough!"
  • Extract from : « Ruggles of Red Gap » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • Hello, Nelson, where are you going at this hour of the night?
  • Extract from : « The Night Riders » by Ridgwell Cullum
  • Yet her tone was calm enough as she uttered the stereotyped "Hello."
  • Extract from : « Mary-'Gusta » by Joseph C. Lincoln
  • By the way, you must come down to the office and say hello to her when you get the time.
  • Extract from : « The Gorgeous Girl » by Nalbro Bartley
  • They have no way of closing the channel, or they would do so, and it remains–––Hello!
  • Extract from : « Adrift on the Pacific » by Edward S. Ellis

Synonyms for hello

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019