gee whiz

gee whiz

noun Informal.
gee2.

Origin:
1880–85, Americanism; apparently euphemistic alteration of Jesus, with final syllable replaced by whiz1

Dictionary.com Unabridged

gee-whiz

[jee-hwiz, -wiz]
adjective Informal.
arousing or characterized by surprise, wonder, or triumphant achievement: a gee-whiz technology; a gee-whiz reaction to the sight of the Grand Canyon.

Origin:
1930–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To gee whiz
00:10
Gee whiz is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Collins
World English Dictionary
gee-whiz
 
adj
informal impressive or amazing: gee-whiz special effects
 
[C20: from gee²]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

gee whiz

An expression of surprise, dismay, or enthusiasm. For example, Gee whiz, Dad, I thought you'd let me borrow the car, or Gee whiz, they finally won the Series! This term is thought to be a euphemism for "Jesus Christ." [Slang; 1870s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT