—used to express strong feeling (such as pleasure or surprise)
wowed; wowing; wows
: to excite to enthusiastic admiration or approval
a performance that wowed the critics
: a distortion in reproduced sound consisting of a slow rise and fall of pitch caused by speed variation in the reproducing system
Examples of wow in a Sentence
Verb
Her performance wowed the critics.
Recent Examples on the Web
Joseph Lee, Country Living, 8 Sep. 2023
Finally, Krawiec convinced Bill to have a CCS and wow!
—Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 8 Sep. 2023
In Parchment This sophisticated seafood supper is sure to wow your sweetheart.
—Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 5 Sep. 2023
Choir students wow with impromptu national anthem performance In:
Tennessee
Steve Hartman
Steve Hartman has been a CBS News correspondent since 1998, having served as a part-time correspondent for the previous two years.
—Steve Hartman, CBS News, 2 Sep. 2023
Temperatures will be a bit warmer, and the stunning colors of Yellowstone's aspens and cottonwoods will make your photos sure to wow.
—Josh Laskin, Travel + Leisure, 30 Aug. 2023
During the workshop, a host will provide step-by-step instructions on how to complete the project and wow all your friends with the finished masterpiece.
—Renee Freemon Mulvihill, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Aug. 2023
Garnish with a fresh corn topping to really wow your family.
23
Chocolate-Cinnamon Latte Cake
Made with coffee, cocoa, and cake mix, this easy dessert is perfect for coffee lovers.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 28 Aug. 2023
The icing on the cake is dew points around 50 degrees — wow.
—A. Camden Walker, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2023
Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2023
Star of the game: Flowers avoided the negative plays and still had the wow moments, finishing with 254 yards passing and 66 yards rushing.
—John Vella, al, 25 Aug. 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
Asking the bot to be more conversational in its response or asking it to add a sarcastic joke can go a long way, but its essays still seem to be missing the wow factor.
—Paige Hagy, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2023
Braves acquire Nicky Lopez IF from the Royals for Taylor Hearn LHP
This trade didn’t register on the wow meter.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2023
Anyone who sees it will instantly appreciate its ‘wow’ factor and know that there really was no expense spared.
—Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 10 May 2023
Creating a podcast set with the wow factor feels near impossible without an audio engineering background, production experience, or interior design skills.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes, 5 May 2023
And the newness of that and the wow factor of that is what’s going to be the thing, not the concept of the multiverse itself.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 6 June 2023
Billy Baker, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Aug. 2023
The second band, the Mums, from Lynchburg, Virginia, wowed me with their grungy, riot girl energy and tight sound.
—Jackson Landers, Spin, 14 Aug. 2023
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below June 19, 2010 Crown Princess Victoria wowed on her wedding day to Prince Daniel in a simple white silhouette with an impressive train.
—Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, 13 Aug. 2023
Many of the generative A.I. use cases that have wowed the public in recent months—if delivered with sufficient safety and guardrails—will be truly value-additive to our ability to get work done.
—Jim Stratton, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2023
The Middle-earth fantasy drama wowed Emmy voters with its craft- work, scoring nominations in main-title design, prosthetic makeup, fantasy/sci-fi costumes, sound editing, special visual effects and original main-title theme music.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 5 Aug. 2023
The couple also wowed on the carpet at the 2023 Academy Awards.
—Ilana Frost, Peoplemag, 26 Aug. 2023
We were wowed by the power and portability of this mighty mini vacuum that weighed in at just over one pound.
—Carolyn Forté, Good Housekeeping, 15 Aug. 2023
Use these expert tips to achieve a monochromatic look that wows without overwhelming.
—Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2023
See More
Interjection
Want to bake up a breakfast treat that will wow some overnight guests, or treat the family to something special?
—Joseph Lee, Country Living, 8 Sep. 2023
Finally, Krawiec convinced Bill to have a CCS and wow!
—Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 8 Sep. 2023
In Parchment This sophisticated seafood supper is sure to wow your sweetheart.
—Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 5 Sep. 2023
Choir students wow with impromptu national anthem performance In:
Tennessee
Steve Hartman
Steve Hartman has been a CBS News correspondent since 1998, having served as a part-time correspondent for the previous two years.
—Steve Hartman, CBS News, 2 Sep. 2023
Temperatures will be a bit warmer, and the stunning colors of Yellowstone's aspens and cottonwoods will make your photos sure to wow.
—Josh Laskin, Travel + Leisure, 30 Aug. 2023
During the workshop, a host will provide step-by-step instructions on how to complete the project and wow all your friends with the finished masterpiece.
—Renee Freemon Mulvihill, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Aug. 2023
Garnish with a fresh corn topping to really wow your family.
23
Chocolate-Cinnamon Latte Cake
Made with coffee, cocoa, and cake mix, this easy dessert is perfect for coffee lovers.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 28 Aug. 2023
The icing on the cake is dew points around 50 degrees — wow.
—A. Camden Walker, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2023
Noun
The rise of bleachers alongside the court was packed, and the oohs and wows accompanying each of Shelton’s blasts—even his faults—created a steady murmur of astonishment.
—Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2023
Star of the game: Flowers avoided the negative plays and still had the wow moments, finishing with 254 yards passing and 66 yards rushing.
—John Vella, al, 25 Aug. 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
Asking the bot to be more conversational in its response or asking it to add a sarcastic joke can go a long way, but its essays still seem to be missing the wow factor.
—Paige Hagy, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2023
Braves acquire Nicky Lopez IF from the Royals for Taylor Hearn LHP
This trade didn’t register on the wow meter.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2023
Anyone who sees it will instantly appreciate its ‘wow’ factor and know that there really was no expense spared.
—Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 10 May 2023
Creating a podcast set with the wow factor feels near impossible without an audio engineering background, production experience, or interior design skills.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes, 5 May 2023
And the newness of that and the wow factor of that is what’s going to be the thing, not the concept of the multiverse itself.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 6 June 2023
Verb
The trick wows his small audience, but the presentation is still a tad rough.
—Billy Baker, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Aug. 2023
The second band, the Mums, from Lynchburg, Virginia, wowed me with their grungy, riot girl energy and tight sound.
—Jackson Landers, Spin, 14 Aug. 2023
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below June 19, 2010 Crown Princess Victoria wowed on her wedding day to Prince Daniel in a simple white silhouette with an impressive train.
—Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, 13 Aug. 2023
Many of the generative A.I. use cases that have wowed the public in recent months—if delivered with sufficient safety and guardrails—will be truly value-additive to our ability to get work done.
—Jim Stratton, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2023
The Middle-earth fantasy drama wowed Emmy voters with its craft- work, scoring nominations in main-title design, prosthetic makeup, fantasy/sci-fi costumes, sound editing, special visual effects and original main-title theme music.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 5 Aug. 2023
The couple also wowed on the carpet at the 2023 Academy Awards.
—Ilana Frost, Peoplemag, 26 Aug. 2023
We were wowed by the power and portability of this mighty mini vacuum that weighed in at just over one pound.
—Carolyn Forté, Good Housekeeping, 15 Aug. 2023
Use these expert tips to achieve a monochromatic look that wows without overwhelming.
—Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wow.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Wow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wow. Accessed 21 Sep. 2023.
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for wow
Nglish: Translation of wow for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of wow for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about wow
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