as in thud
a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument
gave the TV a good wham with her fist, and suddenly the picture came back on
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in to smack
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wham
Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 28 Oct. 2025
There’s an understood language of action that marries really close-up, sharp inserts, the propulsion of rapid editing, wham-bam sound effects, and visual carnage to create excitement.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 16 Aug. 2025
Easy drinking 100% Merlot with 14% alcohol with flavors that include dark licorice, cinnamon and nutmeg and a wham of a finish.
—Tom Mullen, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2025
Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno and company made their wham-bam-glam debut on ‘Roxy Music’ 50 years ago.
—Jill Krajewski, SPIN, 8 June 2022
Perhaps my overall disappointment stems from this pilot stiffness, but the more likely culprit is the standard brashness of American reality television, which is less cinema vérité and more wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am.
—Robyn Bahr, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Feb. 2020
But the movie, for all its retrograde politics and wham-bam machismo, can also be slick, silly fun — a giddy exercise in freewheeling nihilism, played to the hilt.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 23 Jan. 2020
The movie comes at you with a quick, wham-bam style that feels like a nod to the source material, a DC Vertigo comic-book series by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Aug. 2019
SI.com, 21 June 2019
Noun
TreVeyon Henderson covered 12 yards on a wham run, then 18 more on a misdirection toss where fullback Jack Westover and right guard Mike Onwenu presented false keys that indicated an inside run while Henderson zipped outside.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 28 Oct. 2025
There’s an understood language of action that marries really close-up, sharp inserts, the propulsion of rapid editing, wham-bam sound effects, and visual carnage to create excitement.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 16 Aug. 2025
Easy drinking 100% Merlot with 14% alcohol with flavors that include dark licorice, cinnamon and nutmeg and a wham of a finish.
—Tom Mullen, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2025
Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno and company made their wham-bam-glam debut on ‘Roxy Music’ 50 years ago.
—Jill Krajewski, SPIN, 8 June 2022
Perhaps my overall disappointment stems from this pilot stiffness, but the more likely culprit is the standard brashness of American reality television, which is less cinema vérité and more wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am.
—Robyn Bahr, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Feb. 2020
But the movie, for all its retrograde politics and wham-bam machismo, can also be slick, silly fun — a giddy exercise in freewheeling nihilism, played to the hilt.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 23 Jan. 2020
The movie comes at you with a quick, wham-bam style that feels like a nod to the source material, a DC Vertigo comic-book series by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Aug. 2019
Verb
Goalscorer Asamoah Gyan took the resulting penalty, only to wham it off the top of the bar.
—SI.com, 21 June 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wham
Noun
-
The stack tilted, then dropped in one piece before striking the ground with a heavy thud.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Muffled thuds are heard, and the crying stops.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
There was that type of moment Tuesday, when Joe Mack – considered one of the top catching prospects in baseball - smacked a fifth-inning grand slam off Phillies’ minor league pitcher Andrew Walling in a 6-1 Marlins win.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
25 Feb. 2026
-
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of last year’s World Series, Ernie Clement smacked a fly ball off Yoshinobu Yamamoto into the left-center-field gap with the bases loaded and the score tied.—
Anthony Solorzano,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Iran’s strikes on Gulf cities are a blow to the region’s goal of promoting itself as a financial center that can be a haven of stability.—
Matthew Martin,
semafor.com,
1 Mar. 2026
-
Now the gloves are off, and each side will be trying to land a knockout blow.—
Javed Ali,
Fortune,
1 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In the bottom of the inning, Temo Becerra, a senior, hit just his fourth collegiate homer with a shot into the Crawford Boxes in left field.—
David Eckert,
Austin American Statesman,
28 Feb. 2026
-
The heated rivalry between the Pentagon and Anthropic just hit a new horizon Friday.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Pitchers and catchers report This week, Albernaz gets a glimpse of his pitching staff and catchers, before the thump of an offensive lineup joins the workouts.—
Adam Thompson,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
-
For what felt like an eternity — but was really 20 minutes — the whole place was enveloped in an eerie silence, the only sound being the steady thump of techno-pop playing through the loudspeakers.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Family-friendly attractions abound, from old-school carnival games like ring toss and whack-a-mole to a fun house with mirror mazes and glowing lights.—
Lauren Dana Ellman,
Travel + Leisure,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Rio’s staunch griminess, dreaming of whacking his brother and wanting to cut his nephew’s tongue for snitching, drags Fxce out into the open sea.—
Matthew Ritchie,
Pitchfork,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Our way of redressing that was by removing the slap and getting Harry to perform eagerness more.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Moore glided down from the right point and into a slap shot for his third goal of the year.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
His company uses their Fort Collins warehouse to box welding materials and ship them to customers.—
Dillon Thomas,
CBS News,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Run into my knees trying to box me out.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
21 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wham.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wham. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
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