zowieint.
/ˈzaʊiː//zaʊˈiː/ U.S. colloquial.
An exclamation of astonishment (generally, or as a reaction to a sudden or surprising act), and frequently of admiration.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > exclamation of surprise [interjection]
whatOE
well, wellOE
avoyc1300
ouc1300
ay1340
lorda1393
ahaa1400
hillaa1400
whannowc1450
wow1513
why?1520
heydaya1529
ah1538
ah me!a1547
fore me!a1547
o me!a1547
what the (also a) goodyear1570
precious coals1576
Lord have mercy (on us)1581
good heavens1588
whau1589
coads1590
ay me!1591
my stars!a1593
Gods me1595
law1598
Godso1600
to go out1600
coads-nigs1608
for mercy!a1616
good stars!1615
mercy on us (also me, etc.)!a1616
gramercy1617
goodness1623
what next?1662
mon Dieu1665
heugh1668
criminy1681
Lawd1696
the dickens1697
(God, etc.) bless my heart1704
alackaday1705
(for) mercy's sake!1707
my1707
deuce1710
gracious1712
goodly and gracious1713
my word1722
my stars and garters!1758
lawka1774
losha1779
Lord bless me (also you, us, etc.)1784
great guns!1795
mein Gott1795
Dear me!1805
fancy1813
well, I'm sure!1815
massy1817
Dear, dear!1818
to get off1818
laws1824
Mamma mia1824
by crikey1826
wisha1826
alleleu1829
crackey1830
Madonna mia1830
indeed1834
to go on1835
snakes1839
Jerusalem1840
sapristi1840
oh my days1841
tear and ages1841
what (why, etc.) in time?1844
sakes alive!1846
gee willikers1847
to get away1847
well, to be sure!1847
gee1851
Great Scott1852
holy mackerel!1855
doggone1857
lawsy1868
my wig(s)!1871
gee whiz1872
crimes1874
yoicks1881
Christmas1882
hully gee1895
'ullo1895
my hat!1899
good (also great) grief!1900
strike me pink!1902
oo-er1909
what do you know?1909
cripes1910
coo1911
zowiec1913
can you tie that?1918
hot diggety1924
yeow1924
ziggety1924
stone (or stiffen) the crows1930
hullo1931
tiens1932
whammo1932
po po po1936
how about that?1939
hallo1942
brother1945
tie that!1948
surprise1953
wowee1963
yikes1971
never1974
to sod off1976
whee1978
mercy1986
yipes1989
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > exclamation of wonder [interjection]
ahaa1400
ocha1522
heydaya1529
ah1538
ah me!a1547
fore me!a1547
o me!a1547
gossea1556
ay me!1591
o (also oh) rare!1596
law1598
strangec1670
lack-a-day1695
stap my vitals1697
alackaday1705
prodigious1707
my word1722
(by) golly1743
gosh1757
Dear me!1805
Madre de Dios1815
Great Jove!1819
I snum1825
crikey1826
my eye1826
crackey1830
snakes1839
Great Scott1852
holy mackerel!1855
whoops1870
this beats my grandmother1883
wow1892
great balls of fire1893
oo-er1909
zowiec1913
crimes1929
yowa1943
wowee1963
Madre mia!1964
yikes1971
whee1978
chingas1984
c1913 S. Ford On with Torchy 302 ‘Zowie! A plush one!’ says I.
1922 S. Lewis Babbitt xiii. 169 You're a natural-born orator and a good mixer and—Zowie!
1931 Technol. Rev. Nov. 66/1 That class of comic-strip words like zowie and pow.
1958 E. Birney Turvey iv. 32 Visitors..they slap me where it's sore yet and zowie they're off!
1962 Spectator 25 May 674/2 Think of the United States as a 3,000-mile-broad comic strip where significant occasions go bam, pop and zowie.
1972 P. G. Wodehouse Pearls, Girls, & Monty Bodkin xi. 171 He gets out and zowie a gang of thugs come jumping out of the bushes, and next thing you know they're off with your jewel case.
1978 G. McDonald Fletch's Fortune (1979) ix. 60 She was totally unconscious... Gently, he put her head on the floor. ‘Zowie.’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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int.c1913