Gadzooks
interjection
(used as a mild oath.)
Gadzooks
American
[gad-zooks]
/ ˌgædˈzuks /
Also
Odzookers.
interjection
Archaic.
gadzooks
British
/ ɡædˈzuːks /
interjection
Etymology
Origin of Gadzooks
1645–55; perhaps representing God's hooks (i.e., the nails of Christ's Cross); cf. Gad
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Listening to "Gadzooks" feels like you're running through a fun house.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 22, 2021
Gadzooks, stay 'way from this mess if your mama wants to see you toe the straight and narrow line to normality.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 26, 2012
A spokesperson for Gadzooks says the offending apparel has already been cleared from the shelves.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Gadzooks, what a long way that seems to take one back!"
From Time Magazine Archive
Choosing to forgive strange smells or choosing that Gadzooks is not the only place that boyfriends can shop.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
The reader may well say "gadzooks" about the first volume of the life of Churchill by his son Randolph, which goes back even farther.
From Time Magazine Archive
Readers wary of the plush language of the "gadzooks, hussy!" school may be suspicious of the special idiom of Bring Larks.
From Time Magazine Archive
The hare she ran with utmost speed, And sad, and anxious looks, Because the furious hounds indeed, Were near to her, gadzooks.
From Lover's Vows by Inchbald, Mrs.
"Why, gadzooks, we may have him in a corner before the day is out, Mr. Bonamy," he continued.
From The New Rector by Weyman, Stanley John
Is this fad of yours madness?—which would be quite to your credit,—for gadzooks, I like a lunatic!
From The Shape of Fear by Peattie, Elia Wilkinson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
