Meaning & use
woah
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Meanings
interjectioninformal
Used to show surprise, amazement, or admiration at something you have just seen or heard.
Grammar: Stands alone as an exclamation, often followed by a comma and a comment: Woah, that's huge!
Patterns
- woah + clause
Woah, look at the size of that wave!
Woah, I didn't expect to see you here.
Woah, that magic trick was incredible!
interjectioninformal
Used to tell someone to slow down or stop, or to stop a horse.
Grammar: Often said to a person or animal to calm or halt them; usually followed by a name or 'there': Woah there, slow down.
Patterns
- woah there
Woah there, you're going too fast!
The rider shouted 'Woah!' and the horse stopped.
Woah, hold on a second — I need to think.
Common combinations
- woah there
- Woah there, tiger — no need to rush.
- woah, hold on
- Woah, hold on, I dropped my keys.
- woah, that's crazy
- Woah, that's crazy — I can't believe it.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: woah or whoa?
woah vs whoa
Same word, different spelling. 'Whoa' is the form in dictionaries and careful writing; 'woah' is informal.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'woah' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Woah' is an interjection, so it stands alone to express surprise. The other options treat it as a verb or noun, which is not standard.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “woah”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.