Meanings
interjection
- datedAn exclamation of surprise or shock.
“Good heavens,” he protested; “I—confess to you! You’d faint dead away, Eileen.”
1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Mid-Lent”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 134Synonyms: wow
Synonyms & antonyms
interjectionAn exclamation of surprise or shock.
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Old Englishgod
- Middle Englishgood
- Englishgood heavens
Possibly Inherited from Middle English good hevenes and God of hevene, from Old English god heofones
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic يا سلام, يا يوم أبيض
- يا سلامexclamation of surprise or shock
- يا يوم أبيضexclamation of surprise or shock
Bulgarian небеса
- небеса (nebesa)exclamation of surprise or shock
Chinese Mandarin 我的天啊
- 我的天啊 (wǒ de tiān a)exclamation of surprise or shock
Dutch hemeltje lief
- hemeltje liefexclamation of surprise or shock
Esperanto Dio mia, ĉielo
- Dio miaexclamation of surprise or shock
- ĉieloexclamation of surprise or shock
Estonian armas taevas
- armas taevasexclamation of surprise or shock
Finnish hyvänen aika, herra paratkoon
- hyvänen aikaexclamation of surprise or shock
- herra paratkoonexclamation of surprise or shock
- taivaan vallatexclamation of surprise or shock
French bonté divine, ciel
- bonté divineexclamation of surprise or shock
- cielexclamation of surprise or shock
- Seigneurexclamation of surprise or shock
- juste cielexclamation of surprise or shock
German Gott im Himmel
- Gott im Himmelexclamation of surprise or shock
Hungarian te jó ég, te jóságos ég
- te jó égexclamation of surprise or shock
- te jóságos égexclamation of surprise or shock
- atyaégexclamation of surprise or shock
- jesszusomexclamation of surprise or shock
Irish a Mhaighdean bheannaithe!, a thiarcais!
- a Mhaighdean bheannaithe!exclamation of surprise or shock
- a thiarcais!exclamation of surprise or shock
- go bhfóire Dia orainn!exclamation of surprise or shock
Italian apriti cielo
- apriti cieloexclamation of surprise or shock
Japanese したり
- したり (shitari)exclamation of surprise or shock
Malay ya Tuhan
- ya Tuhanexclamation of surprise or shock
Māori rere, āwaiā
- rereexclamation of surprise or shock
- āwaiāexclamation of surprise or shock
- hika māexclamation of surprise or shock
Norwegian herregud
- herregudexclamation of surprise or shock
Polish ojejku
- ojejkuexclamation of surprise or shock
Portuguese céus
- céusexclamation of surprise or shock
Romanian cerule
- ceruleexclamation of surprise or shock
Russian боже, господи
- боже (bože)exclamation of surprise or shock
- господи (gospodi)exclamation of surprise or shock
Scottish Gaelic mo chreach, fhiacais
- mo chreachexclamation of surprise or shock
- fhiacaisexclamation of surprise or shock
- thìochdaiseanexclamation of surprise or shock
- a shìorraidhexclamation of surprise or shock
Spanish santo cielo, cielo santo
- santo cieloexclamation of surprise or shock
- cielo santoexclamation of surprise or shock
- bendito sea Diosexclamation of surprise or shock
Swedish milda makter, du store tid
- milda makterexclamation of surprise or shock
- du store tidexclamation of surprise or shock
- himmelexclamation of surprise or shock
- jössesexclamation of surprise or shock
Tagalog maawaing langit
- maawaing langitexclamation of surprise or shock
Turkish üstüme iyilik sağlık
- üstüme iyilik sağlıkexclamation of surprise or shock
Welsh y nefoedd wen, y nefoedd annwyl
- y nefoedd wenexclamation of surprise or shock
- y nefoedd annwylexclamation of surprise or shock
Yiddish אוי, גאָט אין הימל
- אוי (oy)exclamation of surprise or shock
- גאָט אין הימל (got in himl)exclamation of surprise or shock
Cite this entry
APA
good heavens. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/good%20heavens
MLA
“good heavens.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/good%20heavens. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “good heavens,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/good%20heavens.
Source: good heavens on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.