Hurrah is an exclamation people shout when they're celebrating something exciting or expressing joy. When your team scores the winning goal, you might throw your hands up and yell hurrah! When a teacher announces an unexpected free period, the whole class might shout hurrah! together.

The word captures that burst of happiness when something wonderful happens. It's more enthusiastic than simply saying “yay” and often sounds a bit old-fashioned or formal, like something from a storybook. In historical accounts, you might read about soldiers giving three cheers: “Hip, hip, hurrah! Hip, hip, hurrah! Hip, hip, hurrah!”

People also use hurrah to express relief or approval. When a difficult project finally ends, someone might say hurrah with an exhausted but happy sigh. The word works as both a shout and a quieter expression of satisfaction, as in “Hurrah, we finished!”

You might also see it spelled hooray, which means exactly the same thing but looks more like how we actually pronounce it today.