blah

• bla, blaa

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /blɑː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /bla/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

blah (countable and uncountable, plural blahs)

1. (uncountable, informal) Nonsense; drivel; idle, meaningless talk.

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

2. (informal, in the plural, the blahs) A general or ambiguous feeling of discomfort, dissatisfaction, uneasiness, boredom, mild depression, etc.

   Synonym: malaise

3. (informal, derogatory) A fool, an idiot.

blah (comparative more blah, superlative most blah)

1. (informal) Dull; uninteresting; insipid.

   Well, the new restaurant seems nice, but their menu is a little 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; […]

   • 2025 May 6, Ross Douthat, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Miserable”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →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.

2. (informal) Low in spirit or health; down.

   I decided to go exercise rather than sit around all day feeling blah.

blah

1. An expression of mild frustration.

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

   Blah! Why can't I get this computer to work!

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.

   And then he was like, "Oh, my brother's an Internet millionaire, blah blah blah." Like I care!

3. Representing the sound of vomiting.

   Synonyms: bleah, blech, bleh

blah (third-person singular simple present blahs, present participle blahing, simple past and past participle blahed)

1. (intransitive) 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 […]

   • 2015 August 29, Tony Blair, “Jeremy Corbyn’s politics are fantasy – just like Alice in Wonderland”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

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

• barbarian
• rhubarb

• Bahl

blah

1. bright

blah

1. moon

Cognate with English blaa.

• IPA^(key): /blaː/

blah

1. A thin cake.

• Diarmaid Ó Muirithe (1990) “A Modern Glossary of the Dialect of Forth and Bargy”, in lrish University Review‎^[3], volume 20, number 1, Edinburgh University Press, page 154