shazam

American  

[shuh-zam] / ʃəˈzæm /

Or Shazam

interjection

1. (used to express or indicate a sudden appearance, transformation, or other occurrence).

   I wished to be in Paris and, shazam!—there I was in front of the Eiffel tower.

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Etymology

Origin of shazam

Coined in 1940 by writer B. Parker (1911–1963) as an acronym of the first letters in the names Solomon ( def. ), Hercules ( def. ), Atlas ( def. ), Zeus ( def. ), Achilles ( def. ), and Mercury ( def. )

Example Sentences

“What about the freshman you recruited there? That’s somebody’s son, and he thinks he’s got himself a good place, and all of a sudden, shazam, they…bring a 21- or 22-year-old in.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025

“The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” is about a middle-age woman, a “narratologist” named Gillian, who uncorks an antique-shop bottle and, shazam, finds a handsome genie in her hotel room.

From New York Times • Nov. 15, 2021

I wet some toilet paper with it, laid it on the tick for a few seconds, and shazam!

From Seattle Times • May 23, 2010

We both strained to see ahead of us, and then shazam, the rock appeared directly on our course.

From Time Magazine Archive

"You don't change a nobody into a physical and mental giant by saying abracadabra or by teaching him how to pronounce shazam properly."

From Anything You Can Do ... by Garrett, Randall