gee-whiz

1 of 2

adjective

1
: designed to arouse wonder or excitement or to amplify the merits or significance of something especially by the use of clever or sensational language
play-by-play specialists who wallow in gee-whiz banalityJack Gould
2
: marked by spectacular or astonishing qualities or achievement
gee-whiz technology
3
: characterized by wide-eyed enthusiasm, excitement, and wonder

Examples of gee-whiz in a Sentence

Adjective most of the movie's budget must have gone for its gee-whiz special effects
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
But these gee-whiz offers aren’t likely to hold back market dynamics. Brian Steinberg, Variety, 7 May 2024 Jimmy Olsen, Superman franchise (1938–present) Sidekick to: Clark Kent/Superman On the big screen, Daily Planet photographer and cub reporter Jimmy Olsen is relegated to playing Clark's (and Superman's) gee-whiz cheerleader. Ew Staff Updated, EW.com, 6 Mar. 2024 Tesla arguably kicked off the dashboard screen arms race—or perhaps fingertip battle—with the gee-whiz reveal of a 43-centimeter LCD touchscreen on its Model S sedan in 2009. IEEE Spectrum, 17 Dec. 2023 In thoughtful Hollywood narratives, though, the focus often veers from the gee-whiz capabilities of AI to the emotionally relatable spectrum of how humans interact with intelligent machines. Michael Cavna, Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2023 Both designers cautioned against incorporating video design into a show solely to crank up the wow factor of gee-whiz technology. Gordon Cox, Variety, 5 Sep. 2023 The enterprise could have been the gee-whiz operatic equivalent of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland putting on a play in a barn, but state-of-the-art audio and video production values and a stellar cast and orchestra made this an alluring show. Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 July 2023 Trending Which isn’t to say there’s not a certain gee-whiz fun to be had from Back to the Future Part II, at least for those who can get a kick out of its Heinlein-by-way-of-Amblin convolutions. A.a. Dowd, Rolling Stone, 18 June 2023 Others worry about the potential to turn off viewers with too much gee-whiz technology. Brian Steinberg, Variety, 17 Apr. 2023
Interjection
Wow, gee whiz, golly wolly! Eric Todisco, Peoplemag, 24 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gee-whiz.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

derivative of gee whiz

First Known Use

Adjective

1934, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Interjection

1876, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gee-whiz was in 1876

Dictionary Entries Near gee-whiz

gee whiz

gee-whiz

geez

Cite this Entry

“Gee-whiz.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gee-whiz. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

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