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DUTCH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

nou.

come on; modal particle indicating a certain degree of urgency or impatience on behalf of the speaker.

3 characters1 syllables approx.Nederlands language

Meaning & usage

adv/nɑu̯/
  1. come on; modal particle indicating a certain degree of urgency or impatience on behalf of the speaker.

    Northern
    Ga nou! Straks kom je nog te laat!
  2. modal particle expressing a certain contrast or disjuncture

    Northern
    Dat is nou ook weer overdreven!
  3. alternative form of nu: now, at the present time

    Northern · alt-of · alternative · informal
    Wat is er nou weer dan?
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch nou, a variant of nu, from Old Dutch nu, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu.

intj/nɑu̯/
  1. so, well; when pressing someone

    Northern
    Nou, vertel me de waarheid dan!
  2. well; indicates a certain degree of doubt.

    Northern
    Nou, ik weet het nog niet zo zeker.
  3. wow; indicates amazement or surprise.

    Northern
    Nou, het waait toch wel hard hoor!
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch nou, a variant of nu, from Old Dutch nu, from Proto-West Germanic *nū, from Proto-Germanic *nu.

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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.