no way

See also: noway

English

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)

Adverb

no way (not comparable)

(now archaic or regional) in no way; not at all [from 15th c.]
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
  I suppose that meanes meerely humane can no way be capable of it […].
- 2007, Ron Liebman, Death by Rodrigo, New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 133:
  I get it. No way can me and Mickie talk to Rodrigo about what just happened up at the bench he's standing in the big holding cell, other mopes standing around waiting for their cases to be called, eavesdropping on what we're telling him.

Usage notes

In modern use, the phrase is typically found clause-initially or immediately after a subordinating conjunction.
There's no way I'm going through the thorn bushes dressed like this!

Interjection

no way

(idiomatic) Absolutely not; under no circumstances. [from 18th c.]
Touch that weird rock over there, I dare you! —No way!
(idiomatic) Indicates astonished disbelief.
You failed your exam again? No way!

He's hitting 400 for two months? Uh-uh! No way!

Alternative forms

(South Africa) no ways

Synonyms

no
(absolutely not): no chance, fat chance, not a chance, not on your life, by no means, no fear, chance'd be a fine thing (UK)
(indication of disbelief): unbelievable, no kidding, what the fuck, what the

Coordinate terms

yes way

Derived terms

no way Jose
no way, no how

Related terms

no dice

Translations

absolutely not

Burmese: ဟင့်အင်း (my) (hang.ang:)
Catalan: de cap manera
Chinese:
Cantonese: 死都唔會 / 死都唔会 (sei² dou¹ m⁴ wui⁵), 點都唔會 / 点都唔会 (dim² dou¹ m⁴ wui⁵), 唔肯 (m⁴ hang²)

Hokkien: no捽 (nó͘-sut), 袂癮 / 袂瘾 (bōe-giàn)

Mandarin: 休想 (zh) (xiūxiǎng), 沒門(兒) / 没门(儿) (zh) (méimén[r]), 絕不會 / 绝不会 (jué bùhuì), 絕對不會 / 绝对不会 (juéduì bùhuì), 一定不會 / 一定不会 (yīdìng bùhuì), 門都沒有 / 门都没有 (mén dōu méiyǒu)
Danish: aldrig i livet (da)
Dutch: echt niet, no way
Finnish: ei käy, ei ikinä, ei ikimaailmassa, ei ikipäivänä
French: en aucune façon (fr), pas question (fr), jamais de la vie (fr), pas moyen (fr), hors de question (fr)
Galician: non tal
Georgian: არ არსებობს (ar arsebobs), არავითარ შემთხვევაში (aravitar šemtxvevaši), არანაირად (aranairad), არასგზით (arasgzit)
German: auf keinen Fall (de), keineswegs (de), nie im Leben, nichts da, nix da
Greek:
Ancient Greek: οὐδαμῶς (oudamôs), πώμαλα (pṓmala)
Hebrew: בְּשׁוּם אוֹפֶן (b'shum ofen)
Hungarian: semmiképp sem, semmiképpen sem, semmi esetre sem, eszem ágában sincs
Italian: neanche per sogno, manco per il cazzo
Japanese: 嫌だ (ja) (iya da), 無理だ (ja) (muri da), 有り得ない (ja) (ありえない, arienai), 不可能だ (ja) (ふかのうだ, fukanō da), うそ (ja) (uso)
Kapampangan: emalyari, aru, epwedi
Maori: auare ake, nō(w)hea
Persian: نه بابا (na bâbâ)
Polish: nie ma mowy (pl)
Portuguese: de nenhuma maneira, nem pensar, de jeito nenhum (pt), nada feito
Romanian: nicicum (ro), nicidecum (ro)
Russian: ни за что́ (ru) (ni za štó)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: нема шансе, низашто, заборави, ни у којем случају, неће ићи, ма какви

Roman: nema šanse, nizašto (sh), zaboravi, ni u kojem slučaju, neće ići, ma kakvi
Spanish: de ninguna manera, qué va (es), ni hablar (es), nica (es) (Andes), ni cagando (Peru), ni por asomo, de ninguna forma, de ningún modo, ni en sueños (colloquial), ni por sueños (colloquial), ni por soñación (colloquial)
Swedish: nähä (sv)
Thai: ไม่มีทาง
Turkish: asla (tr), katiyen (tr), olmaz (tr)

indicates astonished disbelief

Catalan: impossible (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 不會吧！ / 不会吧！ (bù huì ba!), 不可能！ (bù kěnéng!), 怎麼會呢？ / 怎么会呢？ (zěnme huì ne?)
Dutch: no way
Finnish: ei voi olla totta, älä viitsi
French: pas possible (fr), pas vrai (fr)
Galician: vaiche boa
Georgian: შეუძლებელია (šeuʒlebelia), წარმოუდგენელია (c̣armoudgenelia), ნუთუ (nutu), არ არსებობს (ar arsebobs)
German: fantastisch (de), unglaublich (de)
Greek: με τίποτα (me típota)
Hebrew: לא יכול להיות (lo yakhol lihiot), בְּשׁוּם אוֹפֶן (b'shum ofen)
Hungarian: nem létezik, ne már, nem mondod
Japanese: 有り得ない (ja) (ありえない, arienai), とんでもない (ja) (tondemonai), まさか (ja) (masaka)
Kapampangan: emalyari, aru, imposibli
Maori: e hawa, nō(w)hea hoki!, weta
Polish: nie może być, niemożliwe
Portuguese: impossível (pt), nem sonhando
Russian: не мо́жет быть (ne móžet bytʹ), да ты что (da ty što)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: не може бити, немогуће

Roman: ne može biti, nemoguće
Spanish: no me digas (es), no qué va, qué va (es) (colloquial), quia (es) (colloquial)
Swedish: nähä (sv)
Turkish: yok artık, daha neler, hadi canım, haydi oradan, git işine

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: ^{(please verify)} assolutamente no
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} asla (tr), ^{(please verify)} hiçbir şekilde

Noun

no way (uncountable)

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see no,‎ way.; not any possibility.
There is no way that I would trust him.
- 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:
  Miranda: I'll admit it, Shepard. I'm impressed. You got us here. Are you ready?
  Shepard: We're going in blind, and we don't even know if we'll survive the trip. No way in hell we're ready... but we don't have a choice.

Alternative forms

(South Africa) no ways

English

Pronunciation

Adverb

Usage notes

Interjection

Alternative forms

Synonyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

Alternative forms

See also

Further reading