Alternative forms

• bla, blaa

Etymology

• Sense “Idle, meaningless talk” (1940), probably imitativeCategory:English onomatopoeias#BLAH or echoic in origin. Compare Ancient Greek βαρ-βαρ (bar-bar, “unintelligible sounds”)^[1]
• Adjective sense “bland, dull” (1919), perhaps influenced by FrenchCategory:English terms derived from French#BLAH blasé (“bored, indifferent”)Category:English undefined derivations#BLAH.
• The blahs (“boredom, mild depression”) first attested 1969; probably a blend of the blues +‎ blah (adjective)Category:English blends#BLAH.
• Also may be connected with bleat

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /blɑː/Category:English 1-syllable words#BLAHCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#BLAH

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#BLAH
• IPA^(key): /bla/Category:English 1-syllable words#BLAHCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#BLAH
• Rhymes: -ɑːCategory:Rhymes:English/ɑː#BLAHCategory:Rhymes:English/ɑː/1 syllable#BLAH

Noun

blah (countable and uncountable, plural blahs)Category:English lemmas#BLAHCategory:English nouns#BLAHCategory:English uncountable nouns#BLAHCategory:English countable nouns#BLAHCategory:English countable nouns#BLAHCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#BLAHCategory:Pages with entries#BLAHCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLAH

1. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#BLAH, informalCategory:English informal terms#BLAH) Nonsense; drivel; idle, meaningless talk.

   Synonyms: bosh, bombast, rubbish; see also Thesaurus:nonsense

2. (informalCategory:English informal terms#BLAH, in the plural, the blahs) A general or ambiguous feeling of discomfort, dissatisfaction, uneasiness, boredom, mild depression, etc.

   Synonym: malaise

3. (informalCategory:English informal terms#BLAH, derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#BLAH) A fool, an idiot.

Adjective

blah (comparative more blah, superlative most blah)Category:English lemmas#BLAHCategory:English adjectives#BLAHCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#BLAHCategory:Pages with entries#BLAHCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLAH

1. (informalCategory:English informal terms#BLAH) Dull; uninteresting; insipid.

   Well, the new restaurant seems nice, but their menu is a little blah.Category:English terms with usage examples#BLAH

   • 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

     He was struck by how much pleasure they seemed to take in their daytime lives, how blah their night work was by contrast, how altogether meaningless; […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#BLAH

   • 2025 May 6, Ross Douthat, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Miserable”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     […] although the show deliberately showcases various luxury goods […] , the overall ambience is extraordinarily bare of style and beauty, offering instead a world of blah décor, undistinguished fashions and cavernous homes that just look like overpriced McMansions.

     Category:English terms with quotations#BLAH

2. (informalCategory:English informal terms#BLAH) Low in spirit or health; down.

   I decided to go exercise rather than sit around all day feeling blah.Category:English terms with usage examples#BLAH

Interjection

blahCategory:English lemmas#BLAHCategory:English interjections#BLAHCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#BLAHCategory:Pages with entries#BLAHCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLAH

1. An expression of mild frustration.

   Synonyms: bah, blast, drat, (archaic) fie

   Blah! Why can't I get this computer to work!Category:English terms with usage examples#BLAH

2. (When spoken repeatedly, often three times in succession: blah blah blah!) Imitative of idle, meaningless talk; used sometimes in a slightly derogatory manner to mock or downplay another's words, or to show disinterest in a diatribe, rant, instructions, unsolicited advice, parenting, etc. Also used when recalling and retelling another's words, as a substitute for the portions of the speech deemed irrelevant.

   Synonyms: blah blah, blah blah blah, yada yada yada

   Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah, Mom, you said this all yesterday.Category:English terms with usage examples#BLAH

   And then he was like, "Oh, my brother's an Internet millionaire, blah blah blah." Like I care!Category:English terms with usage examples#BLAH

3. Representing the sound of vomiting.

   Synonyms: bleah, blech, bleh

Verb

blah (third-person singular simple present blahs, present participle blahing, simple past and past participle blahed)Category:English lemmas#BLAHCategory:English verbs#BLAHCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#BLAHCategory:Pages with entries#BLAHCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLAH

1. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#BLAH) To utter idle, meaningless talk.
   • 2014, Shelagh Stephenson, Ancient Lights, page 28:

     Ooh, I feel so guilty, I've got far too much money — […] So give it away, endow a charitable foundation, burn it, but stop blahing on about it […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#BLAH

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
   • 2015 August 29, Tony Blair, “Jeremy Corbyn’s politics are fantasy – just like Alice in Wonderland”, in The Guardian‎:

     Someone else said to me: “If you’re writing something again, don’t blah on about winning elections; it really offends them.”

     Category:English terms with quotations#BLAH

Derived terms

See also

• barbarian
• rhubarb

References

Anagrams

• Bahl

Adjective

blahCategory:Puoc lemmas#BLAHCategory:Puoc adjectives#BLAHCategory:Puoc entries with incorrect language header#BLAHCategory:Pages with entries#BLAHCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLAH

1. bright

Noun

blahCategory:Puoc lemmas#BLAHCategory:Puoc nouns#BLAHCategory:Puoc entries with incorrect language header#BLAHCategory:Pages with entries#BLAHCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLAH

1. moon

Etymology

Cognate with English blaa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blaː/Category:Yola terms with IPA pronunciation#BLAH
• Homophone: blaCategory:Yola terms with homophones#BLAH

Noun

blahCategory:Yola lemmas#BLAHCategory:Yola nouns#BLAHCategory:Yola entries with incorrect language header#BLAHCategory:Pages with entries#BLAHCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLAH

1. A thin cake.

References

• Diarmaid Ó Muirithe (1990), “A Modern Glossary of the Dialect of Forth and Bargy”, in lrish University Review‎, volume 20, number 1, Edinburgh University Press, page 154