overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

oi.

Said to get someone's attention; hey.

2 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

intj/ɔɪ/UK
  1. Said to get someone's attention; hey.

    Commonwealth · Hong-Kong · Ireland · UK · impolite · usually
    Oi, you with the red hat – what do you think you're doing?
    Oi! Stop that!
  2. An expression of surprise.

    Commonwealth · Hong-Kong · Ireland · UK · impolite · usually
    Oi! This is new!
  3. An informal greeting, similar to hi.

    Commonwealth · Hong-Kong · Ireland · UK · impolite · usually
    Oi! How's it going?
Where this word comes from

Variant of the interjection hoy with h-dropping in working class and Cockney speech; first recorded in the 1930s. Compare also unrelated Portuguese oi and Japanese おい (oi).

noun/ɔɪ/UK
  1. An exclamation of 'oi'.

    Commonwealth · Hong-Kong · Ireland · UK · countable · impolite · usually
  2. A working-class punk rock subgenre of the 1970s, sometimes associated with racism.

    Commonwealth · Hong-Kong · Ireland · UK · capitalized · impolite · sometimes · uncountable · usually
Where this word comes from

Variant of the interjection hoy with h-dropping in working class and Cockney speech; first recorded in the 1930s. Compare also unrelated Portuguese oi and Japanese おい (oi).

pron/ɔɪ/UK
  1. Eye dialect of I

    Commonwealth · Hong-Kong · Ireland · UK · impolite · usually
intj/ɔɪ/UK
  1. Alternative spelling of oy.

    Commonwealth · Hong-Kong · Ireland · UK · alt-of · alternative · impolite · usually
Where this word comes from

Variant of oy, from Yiddish.

intj/ɔɪ/UK
  1. Alternative spelling of oy.

    Commonwealth · Hong-Kong · Ireland · UK · alt-of · alternative · impolite · usually
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from oyez, 2nd person plural imperative of the verb oir (“to listen”), as used as an interjection in duplicated form “Oyez, oyez” by public speakers of medieval times to draw attention before a public address; see oi oi.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

oi has 2 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

oi studiooi workshello, oi

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.