yikes

[ yahyks ]

/ yaɪks /

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interjection

(an exclamation of surprise or alarm.)

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "IS" VS. "ARE"

"Is" it time for a new quiz? "Are" you ready? Then prove your excellent skills on using "is" vs. "are."

Question 1 of 7

IS and ARE are both forms of which verb?

have

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Origin of yikes

First recorded in 1940–45; possibly from yoicks

Words nearby yikes

yield stress, yield to maturity, YIG, Yigdal, yike, yikes, yill, Yima, yin, yin and yang, Yinchuan

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use yikes in a sentence

I did a little research and now, I mean, yikes, he's the guy that's okay with letting schools forcibly pin down autistic kids.
Bill Maher Finds the Worst Congressman in America|Ana Marie Cox|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And could he—yikes—actually be not just inconvenienced but actually ill?
Everything You Wanted To Know About Bob Costas’s Olympic Pinkeye|Kent Sepkowitz|February 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the same episode, by the way, MacKenzie and Sloan “bond” over their shared manicurist—YIKES!
HBO’s ‘The Newsroom’: Aaron Sorkin’s Woman Problem|Jace Lacob, Maureen Ryan|July 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Yite I yikes, and boo I yikes; and my dear papa be so very angy, when I tells him all about it.'
The Maid of Sker|Richard Doddridge Blackmore

“Totty yikes oogar,” said the sticky cause of the mischief, in treacly tones.
A Little World|George Manville Fenn
Geo had only gotten half clear of the entrance when he yelled, "Yikes," and then, "Duck!"
The Jewels of Aptor|Samuel R. Delany

British Dictionary definitions for yikes

yikes

/ (ˈjaiks) /

interjection

informal an expression of surprise, fear, or alarm

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012