phew

Meanings

1. 1
   intj

   used to express relief, fatigue, surprise, or amazement

   Phew, we reached the platform just before the train left.

2. 2
   intj

   used to express disgust, especially at an unpleasant smell

   Phew, that rubbish bin smells awful.

An imitative representation of a forceful breath or exhalation, recorded in English from the early seventeenth century. That physical reaction accounts for both the relief-and-fatigue sense and the disgust-at-a-smell sense.

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