The Meaning of Cheers: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of cheers? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word cheers, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What does the word cheers mean?

According to Evan Evans Tours, the word cheers is an interjection that can mean almost any type of greeting in British English. It can be used to mean hello or goodbye to strangers or friends, no thank you and thank you, as well as formal and informal toasts at the bar. The pronunciation of this exclamation is tʃɪrz.

There is a greater tendency to use this word in British English in the United Kingdom, England, Australia, and New Zealand, though it is used in American English as a toast before a drink. A native speaker of any of these locations would use cheers. This word is often used in an informal way and has many different meanings.

Many different languages also contain words that mean cheers (tʃɪəz). You may notice that in this list of translations of cheers from Word Sense, some of these words look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words in different languages that look and sound similar because they have a shared root or language of origin. 

  •  Cantonese: 乾杯‎, 干杯‎ (gon1 bui1), 飲勝‎, 饮胜‎ (jam2 sing3), 飲杯‎, 饮杯‎ (jam2 bui1), 勝嘅‎, 胜嘅‎ (sing3 ge3)
  •  Cyrillic: уздравље‎, живели‎
  •  Swedish: skål‎
  •  Japanese: 乾杯‎ (かんぱい, kanpai) (dry cup)
  •  Norman: santé!‎
  •  Khmer: សន្តិយុត្ត‎ (sɑnte’ yutta’)
  •  Hungarian: egészségedre‎, szervusz‎, csincsin‎
  •  Dutch: proost‎, gezondheid‎, santé‎, prut‎, cheers‎, daar ga je‎
  •  Arabic: فِي صِحَّتِكَ!‎ (masc.), فِي صِحَّتِكِ!‎ (fem.)
  •  Lao: ຕຳຈອກ‎
  •  Irish: sláinte‎
  •  Slovak: na zdravie‎
  •  Armenian: կենացդ‎
  •  Azeri: sağlan ol‎
  •  Persian: به سلامتی‎ (be salâmati)
  •  Ukrainian: будьмо‎
  •  Esperanto: je via sano‎, sanon‎
  •  Basque: eskerriska‎
  •  Italian: cin cin‎, alla salute‎, salute‎
  •  Old English: wæs Þu hæl‎
  •  Min Nan: 乾杯‎, 干杯‎ (kan-poe), 啉予焦‎ (lim hō͘ ta), 予焦啦‎ (hō͘ ta–lah), 乾啦‎, 干啦‎ (kan–lah)
  •  Finnish: kippis‎
  •  Slovene: na zdravje‎, na zdravje‎
  •  Russian: за ва́ше здоро́вье‎ (formal), за твоё здоро́вье‎ (informal), бу́дем здоро́вы‎ or just ва́ше здоро́вье‎. Russians don’t have a general toast-cheer, but “за ваше здоровье” is most used.; пей до дна́‎ (drink to the bottom), за здоро́вье‎ (generic but less common)
  •  French: à votre santé‎ (formal), santé‎, tchin-tchin‎
  •  Moroccan Arabic: بالصحة والعافية (saha wa’afiab)
  •  Breton: yec’hed mat‎
  •  Macedonian: на здравје‎
  •  Occitan: Santat‎, a la vòstra‎
  •  Mandarin: 乾杯‎, 干杯‎ (gānbēi) (dry cup)
  •  Amharic: መልካም‎
  •  Swahili: maisha marefu‎, afya‎, vifijo‎
  •  Estonian: rõõmuhüüded‎, terviseks‎
  •  Vietnamese: sự cạn ly‎, nâng cốc chúc mừng‎
  •  Romansch: viva‎
  •  Hindi: चीयर्स‎
  •  Greek: εις υγείαν‎, στην υγειά‎, γεια μας‎
  •  Roman: uzdravlje‎, živeli‎
  •  Mongolian: таны эрүүл мэндийн тѳлѳѳ‎
  •  Urdu: چیرس‎ (chīrs)
  •  Scottish Gaelic: slàinte‎
  •  Albanian: gëzuar‎
  •  Tagalog: tagay‎
  •  Lithuanian: į sveikatą‎
  •  Indonesian: pro‎, tos‎
  •  Norwegian: skål‎
  •  Romanian: (hai) noroc!‎, sănătate!‎
  •  Icelandic: skál‎
  •  Luxembourgish: prost‎
  •  Ladin: viva‎, vives‎
  •  Galician: saúde‎
  •  Polish: na zdrowie‎
  •  Georgian: გაუმარჯოს‎, გაგიმარჯოს‎
  •  Walloon: a vosse santé‎, santé‎, a ti‎ (familiar)
  •  Bulgarian: наздраве‎
  •  Hakka: 乾杯‎, 干杯‎ (kôn-pî)
  •  Welsh: iechyd da‎
  •  Korean: 건배‎ (乾杯‎) (dry cup), 위하여‎ (wihayeo), 축배 (chukbae) The Korean expression “위하여” means “for”. You can add any objective depending on the circumstances, or simply omit it.
  •  Danish: skål‎
  •  Thai: ไชโย‎ (chai yoh), ชนแก้ว‎
  •  Czech: na zdraví‎
  •  Hebrew: לחיים‎ (le’khaim)
  •  Latvian: priekā‎
  •  Spanish: salud‎
  •  German: prost‎, servus‎, zum Wohl‎
  •  Navajo: ídlą́‎ (to one person), ohdlą́‎ (to two people), daʼohdlą́‎ (to three or more)
  •  Serbo-Croatian: do dna‎, živjeli‎, čin čin‎
  •  Turkish: şerefe‎
  •  Portuguese: saúde‎, tim tim‎
  •  Faroese: skál‎
  •  Maltese: saħħa‎, evviva‎
  •  Catalan: salut‎
  •  Okinawan: カリーサビラ‎ (kariisabira), カリー‎ (karii)
  •  Marathi: चियर्स‎

What are synonyms of cheers?

There are many different words that a person can use in place of the word cheers. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same definition as another word or phrase. Synonyms are useful terms to learn if you are trying to avoid repeating yourself as well as if you are trying to expand your English language vocabulary. This list of synonyms for the word cheers is provided by Power Thesaurus.

  •  take it easy
  •  solaces
  •  acclamation
  •  thank you
  •  toast
  •  good day
  •  see you tomorrow
  •  nice one
  •  arrivederci
  •  ovation
  •  bottoms up
  •  many thanks
  •  adios
  •  shouts
  •  au revoir
  •  barks
  •  skol
  •  plaudits
  •  hooray
  •  commendation
  •  take care
  •  goodbye
  •  buh-bye
  •  do svidaniya
  •  approval
  •  farewell
  •  vale
  •  best wishes
  •  consoles
  •  congratulations
  •  have a great day
  •  bye-bye
  •  applause
  •  cheery-bye
  •  hasta la vista
  •  standing ovation
  •  chur
  •  acclaim
  •  thanks
  •  approbation
  •  tatty bye
  •  toodles
  •  later
  •  see you later
  •  cya
  •  catch you later
  •  hand-clapping
  •  humors
  •  gaieties
  •  see you soon
  •  all the best
  •  amusements
  •  aloha
  •  adieu
  •  have a nice day
  •  pip pip
  •  hurrahs
  •  contentments
  •  reliefs
  •  laters
  •  bye
  •  crows
  •  battle cries
  •  cheerio
  •  be seeing you
  •  salutes
  •  sayonara
  •  clapping
  •  shrieks
  •  see you
  •  bcnu
  •  delights
  •  praises
  •  do svidanya
  •  joys
  •  see ya
  •  hand
  •  hooroo
  •  ttfn
  •  entertainments
  •  hurrah
  •  ta-ra
  •  peace
  •  good-bye
  •  so long
  •  hasta la vista, baby
  •  cheering
  •  bawls
  •  praise
  •  ciao
  •  punch-ups
  •  comforts
  •  good bye
  •  cries
  •  kudos
  •  ta-ta
  •  your health
  •  encourages
  •  godspeed
  •  toodle-oo

How can the word cheers be used in a sentence?

The word cheers can be used in a variety of different circumstances in the English language, in both American and British English. Using words in a sentence is a great way to learn their definitions. You can also try making flashcards or quizzes to memorize different definitions. Try using this word of the day in a sentence today!Below are a few examples of the word cheers in the following sentences.

The disappointed child pouted in a mood as he heard the cheers for the young girl who won the spelling bee.

The demonstrating strikers gave cheers in support of Benthamism (the philosophy of Jeremy Bentham) and the philosophy of utilitarianism. They were receiving notoriety in the press and they had been trending upward in popularity on Facebook and Twitter between Jun-Jul. 

The happiness of the community all depended on a grant that they received. They gave loud cheers when it was announced that they had gotten it. 

The waiter dropped the drinks off at the table. They all shouted, “Cheers!” and drank in encouragement of their friend who had gotten a new job.

Overall, the word cheers means a toast when drinking. In British English, this can also mean hello, good bye, thank you and no thank you.

Sources:

  1. 7 essential British slang words to know before your trip | Evan Evans Tours 
  2. Cheers synonyms – 812 Words and Phrases for Cheers – Page 2 | Power Thesaurus 
  3. cheers: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense