😮‍💨 Breathing with effort 😲 Very surprising 😯 A quick breath

gaspy

8.8

A short sharp breath you take when you are surprised

noun

: jadeo

After the jump scare in the movie, he had a brief gaspy reaction that left everyone laughing.

Examples

The gaspy intake of breath from the crowd signaled their shock at the unexpected news.
You know, Gaspy?

The Funeral (1996)
She let out a gaspy breath when she saw the surprise party waiting for her.

Synonyms

gasp

vsgaspy

312 1.8

A short, sudden intake of breath because of surprise or pain

is involuntary and caused by surprise or shock rather than pain

How Strong

shortness of breath

Specialized

22 4.0

gaspy

8.8

breath

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

gaspy singular

gaspies plural

Morphology

gaspy = gasp (transparent) = gasp + y

The noun sense is a straightforward nominal formation from 'gasp' (interpretable as 'a little gasp' or 'a gasp-like instance' formed with '-y'), so its meaning is clear from the base.

Etymology

Gaspy as a noun comes from the same root gasp ('short, sudden breath') and simply names that quick intake of air. So a gaspy is the small, involuntary breath you let out when you are surprised or shocked.