wowser
Americannoun
noun
-
a fanatically puritanical person
-
a teetotaller
Etymology
Origin of wowser
First recorded in 1895–1900; origin uncertain
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.
But it’s a wowser, and it’s about change.
From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2016
He was the "wowser," strangest beastie of them all.
From Time Magazine Archive
The worst feature of the wowser is that he is not content to spend his Sundays drably in sedate strolls or in solemn indoor sportlessness.
From Time Magazine Archive
He's a real wowser at one class of knowledge, and doesn't know spit about the others.
From Damned If You Don't by Dongen, H. R. van
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.
