Meanings
interjection
- datedeuphemisticidiomaticUsed to express surprise or incredulity.
Ye Gods, what Havock does Ambition make Among your Works!
1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 11 more example
Would he not far rather lay him down lengthwise along the line of the equator; yea, ye gods! go down to the fiery pit itself, in order to keep out this frost?
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Chapter 2”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
Seventeenth-century British variant of oh my God, probably intended to avoid blasphemy. Compare Danish I guder.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish I guder
- I guderexpression of surprise or incredulity
Finnish taivaan vallat
- taivaan vallatexpression of surprise or incredulity
French dieux du ciel
- dieux du cielexpression of surprise or incredulity
Cite this entry
APA
ye gods. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ye%20gods
MLA
“ye gods.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ye%20gods. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ye gods,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ye%20gods.
Source: ye gods on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.