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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  

[wou] / 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  

[wou] / 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, 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

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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

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

“I was like, wow, it’s getting to the point where not taking away wrinkles is as distracting as if I got a weird pull or lift or whatever,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026

But wizardry can only wow for so long before audiences see through it and start looking to the fundamentals again.

From Barron's • May 10, 2026

Ten million creative, beautiful people, always dreaming and we know how to wow people.

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026

Sam Tallent is going to be one people talk about, Jim Breuer is so great, Steph Tolev crushed it with something fun and interesting and wow, this is really tough.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Dylan pauses Sorcerer’s Stone, which, wow, dude never pauses a game, but he’s pausing a movie we’ve seen over a dozen times.

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

Related Words

• charm
• entertain