wow
English
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Attested since the 16th century; borrowed from Scots wow; ultimately a natural exclamation.
Pronunciation
[edit]Interjection
[edit]wow
- An indication of excitement, surprise, astonishment, or pleasure.
- Wow, I sure was surprised!
- 1513, Gavin Douglas, Virgil Æneid (translation) vi. Prol. 19:
- Out on thir wanderand spiritis, wow! thow cryis.
- An expression of amazement, awe, or admiration.
- Wow! How do they do that?
- Used sarcastically to express disapproval of something.
- Wow… good job using all of our supplies on the first day.
Synonyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:wow
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
[edit]wow (third-person singular simple present wows, present participle wowing, simple past and past participle wowed)
- (transitive, informal) To amaze or awe.
- He really wowed the audience.
- 2015, Joe Sweeney, Mike Yorkey, Moving the Needle, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 200:
- If all of us can remember how great it felt to be wowed, why don't we make it a habit to do it more often for others? People remember you when you wow them, so to differentiate yourself with your clients and customers, think of doing something that would make them remember you.
- 2023 May 8, Nesrine Malik, “The coronation pulled a screen across a desperate, failing nation – just as intended”, in The Guardian[1], →ISSN:
- We have the worst of both worlds: the royal family gives us nothing, and we in turn legitimise it, give it meaning and audience and pay, through subsidies and tax exemptions, for its ability to wow us.
Translations
[edit]
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Noun
[edit]wow (plural wows)
- (informal) Anything exceptionally surprising, unbelievable, outstanding, etc.
- He did? That's a wow!
- 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 144:
- ‘And say, Jimmy, wait till you see me in my new outfit...It’s a wow, kid.’
Derived terms
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Imitative.
Noun
[edit]wow (countable and uncountable, plural wows)
- (audio) A relatively slow form of flutter (pitch variation) which can affect both gramophone records and tape recorders.
- 1970, Larry G. Goodwin, Thomas Koehring, Closed-circuit Television Production Techniques, page 80:
- Sound films have to be loaded so that the sound is 5 seconds before the sound drum so a wow does not result when the film is punched up on the air.
See also
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Atikamekw
[edit]Noun
[edit]wow
Chinese
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From English wow, used in the sarcastic Internet slang Wow! Old news is so exciting!.
Pronunciation
[edit]- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: waau1
- Yale: wāau
- Cantonese Pinyin: waau1
- Guangdong Romanization: wao1
- Sinological IPA (key): /waːu̯⁵⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Verb
[edit]wow
- (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, of news) to become outdated; to become old news
Related terms
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄨㄠ
- Tongyong Pinyin: wao
- Wade–Giles: wao1
- Yale: wāu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uau
- Palladius: вао (vao)
- Sinological IPA (key): /uau⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
Interjection
[edit]wow
Japanese
[edit]Alternative spelling |
---|
whoa |
Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Interjection
[edit]Middle English
[edit]Noun
[edit]wow
- Alternative form of wowe
Polish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unadapted borrowing from English wow.
Pronunciation
[edit]Interjection
[edit]wow
Further reading
[edit]- wow in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Scots
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Attested in Older Scots a. 1500. Probably originally imitative. Compare Scottish Gaelic bhòbh (“alas”).[1]
Interjection
[edit]wow
- wow (an exclamation of astonishment or amazement)
- Synonym: vow
- (archaic) woe (an exclamation of grief)
- Synonym: wae
Etymology 2
[edit]From Middle English wowe, from Old English wogian (“to woo”).[2]
Verb
[edit]wow (third-person singular simple present wows, present participle wowin, simple past wowt, past participle wowt)
- (archaic, transitive or intransitive) to woo, court; to solicit affection (from someone)
Etymology 3
[edit]Attested from the 18th century. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
[edit]wow (plural wows)
Verb
[edit]wow (third-person singular simple present wows, present participle wowin, simple past wowt, past participle wowt)
Etymology 4
[edit]Verb
[edit]wow (third-person singular simple present wows, present participle wowin, simple past wowt, past participle wowt)
References
[edit]- ^ “Wow, interj.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
- ^ “Wow, v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
- ^ “Wow, v2.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unadapted borrowing from English wow.
Pronunciation
[edit]Interjection
[edit]wow
- wow (an indication of excitement or surprise)
Usage notes
[edit]According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Swedish
[edit]Interjection
[edit]wow
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- English terms borrowed from Scots
- English terms derived from Scots
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aʊ
- Rhymes:English/aʊ/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English interjections
- English palindromes
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English informal terms
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English onomatopoeias
- English three-letter words
- Atikamekw lemmas
- Atikamekw nouns
- Atikamekw palindromes
- atj:Biology
- atj:Eggs
- atj:Food and drink
- atj:Poultry
- atj:Zoology
- Cantonese terms derived from English
- Chinese lemmas
- Cantonese lemmas
- Chinese verbs
- Cantonese verbs
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese terms written in foreign scripts
- Hong Kong Cantonese
- Chinese internet slang
- Chinese terms borrowed from English
- Chinese terms derived from English
- Mandarin lemmas
- Chinese interjections
- Mandarin interjections
- Japanese terms borrowed from English
- Japanese terms derived from English
- Japanese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Japanese lemmas
- Japanese interjections
- Japanese terms with multiple readings
- Japanese palindromes
- Japanese spelling pronunciations
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English palindromes
- Polish terms borrowed from English
- Polish unadapted borrowings from English
- Polish terms derived from English
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/aw
- Rhymes:Polish/aw/1 syllable
- Polish lemmas
- Polish interjections
- Polish palindromes
- Polish colloquialisms
- Scots terms with IPA pronunciation
- Scots lemmas
- Scots interjections
- Scots palindromes
- Scots terms with archaic senses
- Scots terms inherited from Middle English
- Scots terms derived from Middle English
- Scots terms derived from Old English
- Scots verbs
- Scots transitive verbs
- Scots intransitive verbs
- Scots nouns
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish unadapted borrowings from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish 1-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/au
- Rhymes:Spanish/au/1 syllable
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish interjections
- Spanish terms spelled with W
- Spanish palindromes
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish interjections
- Swedish terms spelled with W
- Swedish palindromes
- Swedish terms with usage examples