Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

yolo

/ˈjoʊloʊ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.95 in modern English

Syllables: yolo
IPA: /ˈjoʊloʊ/

7

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

2

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

Acronym of you only live once, i.e. expressing the view that one should make the most of the present moment.

Slang

verb

To make the most of the present moment.

phrase

Alternative letter-case form of YOLO.

name

An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Yolo County, California, United States.

name

An unincorporated community in Henry County, Missouri, United States.

name

a village in the Ségou Region of Mali, West Africa.

Example Sentences

"Making this cake mix eleven years past the expiration date, because YOLO!"
"“Well, it's too late to turn back now, Brandon,” Ana said. “And anyway… YOLO, right?” Brandon looked like he was about to explode, but finally he rubbed his eyes and nodded. “Yeah. YOLO.”"
"“It made me come to this conclusion of, I don’t know, YOLO, let me just try this,” he said."
"Individual YOLO decisions can be chalked up to many factors: cabin fever, low interest rates, the emergence of new get-rich-quick schemes like NFTs and meme stocks."
"Dario Amodei […] has cautioned that if the real numbers go off course, big spenders could face bankruptcy as a result of “Yolo-ing” on capital expenditure, a reference to some of his peers' you-only-live-once exuberance."

Etymology

The phrase (not the acronym) "you only live once" dates to the 19th century according to research by Katherine Martin, head of U.S. Dictionaries at Oxford University Press. It saw a steady increase of usage from 1940 to 2000. Ben Zimmer, lexicographer, found the earliest usage of the acronym from 1993, in a trademark filed for YOLO gear with "you only live once" in small lettering. The acronym was popularized around 2011 by Canadian rapper Drake. YOLO was entered into the Oxford English Dictionary as a word on September 12, 2016.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈjoʊloʊ/
British English: /ˈjəʊləʊ/

Usage

Slang

Inflected Forms

Y.O.L.O. (alternative) YOLOs (present, singular) YOLOing (participle, present) YOLOed (participle, past) YOLOed (past)

Phrases

carpe diem Yolo County

Frequently Paired Words

carpe diem

Synonyms

you only go around once

Rhymes With

solo dipaolo dibartolo polo colo bolo barolo nebbiolo bowlo

Questions

How do you pronounce yolo?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈjoʊloʊ/.
What does yolo mean?: Acronym of you only live once, i.e. expressing the view that one should make the most of the present moment.
Where does yolo come from?: The phrase (not the acronym) "you only live once" dates to the 19th century according to research by Katherine Martin, head of U.S. Dictionaries at Oxford University Press. It saw a steady increase of usage from 1940 to 2000. Ben Zimmer, lexicographer, found the earliest usage of the acronym from 1993, in a trademark filed for YOLO gear with "you only live once" in small lettering. The acronym was popularized around 2011 by Canadian rapper Drake. YOLO was entered into the Oxford English Dictionary as a word on September 12, 2016.

How to pronounce yolo

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