Wat betekent “doei” in het Nederlands?

Doei is the everyday Dutch "bye" — the goodbye Dutch speakers use with friends, family members, partners, and casual acquaintances. It sits firmly in the informal register: warmer than dag and far less formal than tot ziens. A Dutch person leaving a friend's house, ending a casual phone call, or signing off a SMS uses doei as the default closer.

The word is a 20th-century innovation in Dutch — older Dutch leaned more on dag — but doei has now fully naturalized and is the dominant casual goodbye across age groups. It pairs well with hoor (doei hoor, with the listener-directed softener), with dan (doei dan, "bye then" with a slightly resigned feel), and with itself for warmth (doei doei).

A pragmatic note: doei is unambiguously friendly. There's no flat or sarcastic reading — Dutch speakers don't use it as a brush-off the way English "bye" can occasionally land. Even the briefest doei signals goodwill at the moment of parting.