wow

See also: WoW

English

Etymology 1

Attested since the 16th century, of Scottish origin.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wou, IPA^(key): /waʊ̯/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊ

Interjection

wow

1. An indication of excitement, surprise, astonishment, or pleasure.
   • 1513, Gavin Douglas, Virgil Æneid (translation) vi. Prol. 19:

     Out on thir wanderand spiritis, wow! thow cryis.

2. An expression of amazement, awe, or admiration.

   Wow! How do they do that?

3. Used sarcastically to express disapproval of something.

   Wow... I can't believe you would do such a thing.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:wow

Derived terms

• wowzer, wowser
• wowsers
• wowzah
• wowee

Translations

excitement

• Afrikaans: sjoe (af)
• Arabic:

  Hijazi Arabic: وي‎ (way), وَه‎ (wah), واو‎ (wāw)

• Armenian: ջա՜ն, հրաշալի է (ǰa^!n, hrašali ē)
• Assamese: আও (aü), বাঃ (bao)
• Esperanto: ŭaŭ
• Estonian: vau
• Finnish: vau! (fi)
• French: waouh (fr), ouah (fr), oh là là (fr)
• Georgian: ვაშა (vaša)
• German: toll! (de), boah! (de), Junge! (de) m, Mensch! (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: βαβαί (babaí)

• Hiligaynon: abá
• Hindi: वाह (hi) (vāh)
• Hungarian: ejha! (hu), hűha!, hű (hu), tyűha!, tyű!, azta!, húha, hú, fú (hu), azt a mindenit
• Italian: accipicchia (it), accidenti (it), per tutti i diavoli, per la miseria, incredibile (it), perbacco (it)
• Korean: 우와 (uwa), 와 (ko) (wa)

• Ladin: putega, bestia, ma ies'a mat
• Latin: papae
• Macedonian: леле (mk) (lele)
• Malay: wau
• Maori: ānana, ēhe
• Navajo: doo lá dóʼ da
• Persian: وه‎ (fa) (vah), به‎ (fa) (bah)
• Polish: wow! (pl), o rany
• Portuguese: uau (pt), uia, nossa (pt)
• Russian: ух ты́ (ru) (ux tý), ва́у (ru) (váu) (neologism), ура́ (ru) (urá)
• Spanish: ¡guau! (es), ¡guao! (es), hala (es), arrea (es), atiza (es)
• Swedish: oj (sv)
• Turkish: vay (tr), vay canına
• Urdu: واہ‎ (ur) (vāh), وا‎ (vā)
• Walloon: oufti (wa), ayayay (wa)
• Welsh: waw

amazement

• Afrikaans: sjoe (af)
• Armenian: մաման-ծաղկաման (maman-całkaman)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哇塞 (zh) (wāsài), 哇 (zh) (wā), 哎呀 (zh) (āiyā)

• Dutch: wauw (nl)
• Esperanto: ŭaŭ
• Finnish: vau (fi), o-ho, jukoliste (fi)
• French: ouah (fr), oh (fr)
• German: wow (de), boah (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: βαβαί (babaí)

• Hebrew: ואו‎ (waw)
• Hiligaynon: abá
• Hungarian: ejha! (hu), hűha!, hű (hu), tyűha!, tyű!, azta!, húha, hú, fú (hu), azt a mindenit
• Icelandic: vá

• Japanese: わあ (wā), すごい！ (ja) (sugoi)
• Khmer: ចុម (chom), វ៉វ់ (vorv)
• Korean: 와 (ko) (wa)
• Latin: hui
• Lithuanian: vau (lt)
• Malay: wau, wah
• Maori: ānana, ēhe, anō
• Persian: واه‎ (fa) (vâh), وا‎ (fa) (vâ)
• Portuguese: uau (pt), uia, nossa (pt), ena!
• Russian: ого́ (ru) (ogó), ого́ (ru) (ohó), ничего́ себе́! (ničevó sebé!), ба (ru) (ba), ишь ты (ru) (išʹ ty), на́до же (ru) (nádo že), обалде́ть (ru) (obaldétʹ), ва́у (ru) (váu) (neologism), здо́рово (ru) (zdórovo), ух ты (ru) (ux ty), офиге́ть (ru) (ofigétʹ), охуе́ть (ru) (oxujétʹ) (vulgar), пизде́ц (ru) (pizdéc) (vulgar), пфф (pff)
• Spanish: guau (es), guao (es)
• Thai: ว้าว (th) (waaw)
• Turkish: vay (tr), vay canına
• Vietnamese: ồ (vi)
• Welsh: waw

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} wauw (nl)
• French: ^{(please verify)} oh (fr), ^{(please verify)} oh là là (fr) ^{(please verify)} ouah (fr)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} vá
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} uao

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} uau
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вау

  Roman: vau

Verb

wow (third-person singular simple present wows, present participle wowing, simple past and past participle wowed)

1. (informal) To amaze or awe.

   He really wowed the audience.

Translations

to amaze or awe

• German: begeistern (de), in Begeisterung versetzen (de), tief beeindrucken (de)

Noun

wow (plural wows)

1. (informal) Anything exceptionally surprising, unbelievable, outstanding, etc.
   • 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.’

   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 27:

     ‘Jesus suffering fuck,’ said Adrian. ‘It's not half a thought.’
     ‘Face it, it's a wow.’

   He did? That's a wow!

Derived terms

• wowless

Etymology 2

Imitative.

Noun

wow (plural wows)

1. (audio) A relatively slow form of flutter (pitch variation) which can affect both gramophone records and tape recorders.

Anagrams

• oww

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Atikamekw

Noun

wow

1. egg

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Middle English

Noun

wow

1. Alternative form of wowe

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English wow.

Interjection

wow

1. An indication of excitement or surprise.