Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

howdy

/ˈhaʊdi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.08 in modern English

Syllables: howdy
IPA: /ˈhaʊdi/

15

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

intj

An informal greeting.

American usage; Informal

verb

To greet informally, especially by saying "howdy"

Transitive verb

noun

noun

Example Sentences

"Howdy folks, and welcome to our ninth annual chili cookoff!"
"I stood up for the kid and it got ugly, with accusations being thrown in both directions. So the sheriff and I weren't exactly on howdying terms when that fire happened."

Etymology

Clipping of howdy-do, from how-d'ye-do (“how do you do”).

Usage

Inflected Forms

howdie (alternative) howdies (present, singular) howdying (participle, present) howdied (participle, past) howdied (past) howdies (plural)

Derived Forms

meowdy

Phrases

boy howdy howdy doody

Synonyms

hello hullo hi how-do-you-do

Rhymes With

cloudy rowdy gowdy dowdy goudy goudie moudy saudi magna cum laude summa cum laude crowdy crowdie

Questions

How do you pronounce howdy?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhaʊdi/.
What does howdy mean?: An informal greeting.
Where does howdy come from?: Clipping of howdy-do, from how-d'ye-do (“how do you do”).

How to pronounce howdy

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “howdy”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈhaʊdi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “howdy”.
Repeat and practice — Say “howdy” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.