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• wow
  wow

  interjection

  (an exclamation of surprise, wonder, pleasure, or the like).
• WOW
  WOW

  abbreviation

  waiting on weather: used esp in the oil industry

wow

¹ American  

[wau] / waʊ /

interjection

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

   Wow! Look at that!

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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 American  

[wau] / waʊ /

noun

1. Audio. a slow wavering of pitch in sound recording or reproducing equipment caused by uneven speed of the turntable or the tape.

2. Scot. and North England Dialect. a howl, wail, bark, whine, or mew.

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verb (used without object)

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

wow ¹ British  

/ waʊ /

interjection

1. an exclamation of admiration, amazement, etc

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noun

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

verb

1. slang (tr) to arouse great enthusiasm in

WOW ² British  

abbreviation

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

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wow ³ British  

/ waʊ /

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

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Etymology

Origin of wow¹

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

Origin of wow²

1800–10 wow ² for defs. 2, 3; 1930–35 wow ² for def. 1; imitative; the audio term is probably an independent formation

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Explanation

When you wow your teacher, you get him really excited about your three paragraph essay. To wow is to impress. If you imagine saying, "Wow!" after tasting your friend's coconut cupcakes, you'll understand exactly what the verb wow means. When the cupcakes make you exclaim like that, they wow you. A wonderful movie will wow you, and your dad's juggling act might also wow you. The word wow is Scottish in origin, an amazed interjection from the 1500's. The verb form came along in American slang much later, in the 1920's.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wow WOW

"After two weeks, wow, I felt joy back in life."

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Jerry just needs Mona to be better. And then he sees that maybe she could actually be kind of great. He cracks her open and he’s like, ‘Oh wow, who is this lady?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

Suravech was tight-lipped about the find, but said it would "wow" people.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

They want to wow customers with their decor, high-end finishes, and impressive food and drinks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Mari mouthed a very excited wow at Aaron, and Door slapped him on the back.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

A consultant hired by the Yes on BB campaign estimated the city’s digital kiosk deal with WOW Media would generate $280,000 to $1.1 million a year, roughly 0.1% to 0.5% of Inglewood’s $238-million general fund.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

The business pushed to become a sports-viewing destination by adding in 40-foot screens called WOW Walls, which can be split into subscreens tuned to different channels.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

On one side: WOW Media, which has a financial partnership with the city of Inglewood that could be worth tens of millions of dollars as an aggressive expansion of its billboard network comes online.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

“Our commitment has always been to invest in Inglewood, and that commitment goes far beyond our network,” Krantz wrote, adding that WOW wants Inglewood to remain a strong and financially stable “City of Champions.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

WOW, that came out way wacker than I intended.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

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