whoa

Sometimes woah

[hwoh, woh]

interjection

1. (used to command an animal, especially a horse, to stop.)

2. (used to tell a person to stop, wait, or slow down).

   Whoa, you need to sit over there and calm yourself.

3. (an exclamation of surprise, wonder, pleasure, etc.).

   Whoa, that's a great photo!

whoa

/ wəʊ /

interjection

1. a command used esp to horses to stop or slow down

Word History and Origins

Origin of whoa¹

First recorded in 1460–80; dialectal variant of ho ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of whoa¹

C19: variant of _ho ¹

Example Sentences

“When he got hired, it was cool to be like: Whoa. That’s like a weird, funny guy. They’re into that. That’s kind of promising for comedy.”

From Los Angeles Times

"He said, 'Whoa mum, wait a minute. Are you sure?'" she says.

From BBC

Some of the stuff that’s in there, I’m like, “Whoa, we really got away with something here.”

From Los Angeles Times

Going back and looking at those songs — looking at myself 20 years ago — I’m like, whoa, Ash — I wish I could go back in time and give you a hug.

From Los Angeles Times

“It helped us learn and understand so that when we went out into the field it wasn’t like, ‘Whoa, what’s going on?’”

From Los Angeles Times

When To Use

What does whoa mean?

Whoa is used to express that something is impressive, surprising, or astounding, as in Whoa! Look at that sunset! In this sense, it’s very similar to wow.Whoa is also used as a command to stop. This command is especially associated with its use to get a horse to stop or slow down.Whoa is an interjection, meaning it’s typically used by itself outside of a sentence.Some people spell it woah.Example: When I told Keanu that the horse was running right at him, he just stood there and said, “Whoa.”