wow

¹

[ wou ]

interjection

1. (an exclamation of surprise, wonder, pleasure, or the like):

   Wow! Look at that!

verb (used with object)

1. to gain an enthusiastic response from; thrill.

noun

1. an extraordinary success:

   His act is a real wow.

2. excitement, interest, great pleasure, or the like:

   a car that will add some wow to your life.

wow

²

[ wou ]

noun

1. Audio. a slow wavering of pitch in sound recording or reproducing equipment caused by uneven speed of the turntable or the tape. Compare flutter ( def 12 ).
2. Scot. and North England Dialect. a howl, wail, bark, whine, or mew.

verb (used without object)

1. Scot. and North England Dialect. to howl, wail, bark, whine, or mew.

wow

¹

/ waʊ; wəʊ /

noun

1. a slow variation or distortion in pitch that occurs at very low audio frequencies in sound-reproducing systems, such as a record player, usually due to variation in speed of the turntable, etc See also flutter

WOW

²

abbreviation for

1. waiting on weather: used esp in the oil industry

wow

³

/ waʊ /

interjection

1. an exclamation of admiration, amazement, etc

noun

1. slang.
   a person or thing that is amazingly successful, attractive, etc

verb

1. slang.
   tr to arouse great enthusiasm in

Word History and Origins

Origin of wow¹

1890–95; perhaps identical with Scots wow! exclamation of surprise or admiration

Origin of wow²

1800–10 wow ²fordefs 2, 3; 1930–35 wow ²fordef 1; imitative; the audio term is probably an independent formation

Word History and Origins

Origin of wow¹

C20: of imitative origin

Origin of wow²

C16: originally Scottish, expressive of surprise, amazement, etc

Example Sentences

I just recently rewatched all six Star Wars movies the other day… Oh wow, from the beginning?

From The Daily Beast

It made a big impact on him and he realized, “Wow, there really is a Santa, at least in the hearts of some people.”

From The Daily Beast

But while the GoPro is impressive by itself, it has some serious wow factor when combined with a drone.

From The Daily Beast

And then I saw the trailer to Nightcrawler and texted him again and said, “Wow, you inspire me every day.”

From The Daily Beast

It was like ‘Wow, I can do whatever I like,’ and I did, and it became routine.

From The Daily Beast

There was a grand "pow-wow," as William called it, after he came.

From Project Gutenberg

Among the neighboring Cherokees, was one named Silouee, celebrated as a chief and pow-wow, or medicine man.

From Project Gutenberg

A special class of legends that have been evolved in Slavic countries are those that tell of the Lamed-wow-niks.

From Project Gutenberg

The chief difficulty in a "pow-wow" of this nature was that the balance of argument was invariably on the side of the Indian.

From Project Gutenberg

"I'm going over to Mrs. Bow Wow's house to see if I can find the puppy dogs," he said.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• charm
• entertain