oh so

/ˈoʊsoʊ/

adverb

very, extremely (often ironic)

Meanings

adverboh so (not comparable)

alternative oh-so

  1. not comparablevery, extremely (often ironic)

    He is, reputedly, a dashing Casanova and receives oh so many letters from oh so many femmes.

    1997, Hugh Aaron, Letters from the Good War: A Young Man's Discovery of the World, Stones Point Press, →ISBN, page 314
    3 more examples

    His oh-so-witty (ugh) remarks on the loud hailer constitute one more proof that this instrument has minimal value on a pleasure boat.

    1971 July–August, Capt. Jacque Cestlabote, “Restrain Sloan Wilson!”, in Boating, →ISSN, page 8

    […]it’s truly incredible how similar the Finder’s behaviors are today to that oh-so-crude yet oh-so-amazing Finder of 1984

    2011, Scott Granneman, Mac OS X Snow Leopard for Power Users: Advanced Capabilities and Techniques, Apress, →ISBN, page 51

    there is something vulnerable-making about learning a language, when your normal ease of expression crumbles and you have to start again like a child acquiring speech for the first time, but oh, so much more slowly.

    2026 August 4, Charlotte Higgins, “‘The war leaked into every lesson’: learning Ukrainian in a country under siege”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC

Origin

From oh (interjection) + so (adverb).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French ô combien
  • ô combienvery, extremely (often ironic)
Swedish ack så
  • ack såvery, extremely (often ironic)
Cite this entry
APA

oh so. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oh%20so

MLA

“oh so.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oh%20so. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oh so,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oh%20so.

Source: oh so on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.