yay

interjection (yay — informal); adverb (yay — US informal, «yay big»)

«yay» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

Everyday

(informal) A cry of joy, excitement or approval, like «hooray». tree →
(US, informal) This much; about this size, shown with the hands: «yay big», «yay high». tree →

In the lessons

Very common in children's talk, messages and stories with real speech: «Yay, it's snowing!» Tells the reader a character is happy. Sometimes said in a flat voice to mean the opposite (sarcasm): «Oh yay, more homework.»

Examples

Yay! We won the match! tree →
Yay, it's pizza night! tree →
The class cheered «Yay!» when the bell rang. tree →
«Oh yay, more homework,» he said, not happy at all. tree →
The fish was about yay big. tree →
Yay for Gran, who baked the cake! tree →

Note

Informal; not for formal writing except in speech. Do not confuse with «yeah» (yes) or «nay» (no). Sarcastic «yay» means the speaker is not pleased.

On Mova

Trees and pragmatics of «yay» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«yay» in the school dictionary on Mova free.

This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/yay/