variants or less commonly oy vay or oy veh
used to express dismay, frustration, or grief
Mail! Oy veh, I get such mail. Such mail as I never dreamed of before the advent of the Internet.Anne Bendheim

Examples of oy vey in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Always quick to cry ‘oy vey’ over microaggressions while macro-aggressing against anyone noticing patterns. Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 8 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Yiddish, from oy, interjection expressing surprise or dismay + vey, interjection expressing distress or grief, going back to Middle High German , going back to Old High German wah, wē, going back to Germanic *wai (whence Old English ) — more at woe entry 1

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of oy vey was in 1914

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Cite this Entry

“Oy vey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oy%20vey. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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