Meaning & use
wowing
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“wowing” is a form of “wow”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitiveinformal
greatly impressing someone and making them feel excited or full of admiration.
Grammar: Takes an object: you wow an audience, a crowd, or a person; it is not used without one.
Patterns
- wow someone
- wow someone with something
- be wowing someone
The young singer was wowing the audience with her powerful voice.
Their new phone is wowing reviewers with its camera.
He wowed the judges in the first round and never looked back.
verbintransitiveinformal
being in the middle of impressing a group of people over a period of time.
Grammar: Used without an object mainly in the progressive to describe an ongoing performance: 'The band is wowing night after night.'
Patterns
- be wowing
- keep wowing
The dancers are wowing night after night on this tour.
She kept wowing for the whole season, and the fans loved it.
Word forms
| third person singular | wows |
|---|---|
| past tense | wowed |
| past participle | wowed |
| -ing form | wowing |
Common combinations
- wow the crowd
- His final jump wowed the crowd.
- wow the audience
- The magician wowed the audience with a simple trick.
- wow everyone
- Her speech wowed everyone in the room.
- wow someone with something
- They wowed us with their homemade bread.
- be wowing reviewers
- The film is wowing reviewers in early screenings.
Synonyms and how they differ
- impress
- The neutral, everyday choice; wow is more informal and suggests a stronger, louder reaction.
- amaze
- Stronger and more about surprise; wow often suggests delight and applause rather than pure shock.
- dazzle
- Suggests brilliance and showiness, so it suits performances and displays better than quiet achievements.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: wowing or vowing? wowing or wooing?
wowing vs vowing
Sounds almost the same; vow means making a serious promise, so 'vowing to change' is about a promise, not about impressing anyone.
wowing vs wooing
Also similar in sound; woo means trying to win someone's love or support, which is a slower, more deliberate effort than wowing them.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'wowing' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Wow is transitive, so it takes a direct object: 'wowing the guests'. The other options add an unnecessary preposition (at, for, to) before the object, which the verb does not allow.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wowing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.