blimey

or bli·my

[blahy-mee]

interjection British Informal.

(used to express surprise or excitement.)

Origin of blimey

1885–90; orig. reduced form of blind me, as ellipsis from God blind me; cf. gorblimey

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for blimey

Historical Examples of blimey

"Blimey, I can't stick this," and perched himself on the parados.
500 of the Best Cockney War Stories
Various
Turning to his mates he exclaimed, "Blimey, me brother's been an' split on me."
500 of the Best Cockney War Stories
Various
Blimey, I feel as if I could push a leave train from 'ere to the base.
500 of the Best Cockney War Stories
Various
Blimey, if I wasnt beginnin to think we was the sole survivors.
Grapes of wrath
Boyd Cable
Blimey, they'll shake the country to pieces—and scare the ducks.
The Red Horizon
Patrick MacGill

British Dictionary definitions for blimey

blimey

interjection

British slang an exclamation of surprise or annoyance

Word Origin for blimey

C19: short for gorblimey God blind me

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for blimey

by 1889, probably a corruption of (God) blind me! First attested in a slang dictionary which defines it as "an apparently meaningless, abusive term."