Skip to main content
whooping

whooping

4.9
Very large and impressive in size or amount
  • adjective
  • /ˈhuːpɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : enorme
  • The sale offered a whooping discount, making the items incredibly affordable for everyone.

Examples

  • The toddler made a whooping mess while playing with his toys all over the living room.

  • But after all their whooping and high-fiving over an O victory, they might, just might, wonder, like the Lt. Colonel Nicholson character in "The Bridge.

    Blog text (6)
  • But after all their whooping and high-fiving over an O victory, some in the MSM might wonder and ask themselves, like the Lt. Colonel Nicholson character in "The Bridge over the River Kwai," "What have I done?"

    Blog text (6)
  • The team celebrated their victory with a whooping cheer that could be heard across the stadium.

Synonyms

thumping
vswhooping
  • Informal
1 4.6

Very large or very great in size, amount and quality

is more about being notably impressive rather than just intensifying description
whopping
vswhooping
  • Informal
1 5.0

Very large in size or amount

emphasizes that something is unusually large and notably impressive
walloping
vswhooping
  • Informal
6.3

Very large in size or amount

focuses more on impressive scale rather than mere size
whacking
vswhooping
  • UK
7.7

Very large in size or amount

is the informal general word rather than a regionally marked usage
hugemongous
vswhooping
  • Informal
8.6

Very large, often said in a playful way

is informal too but can sound more neutral and genuinely impressive

Antonyms

1.0

Not large in size or amount

104 4.1

Not important or too small to matter

Compounds

A disease that spreads between people and causes severe coughing with a loud whoop when breathing in

5 9.6

A large rare North American bird with white and black feathers and a loud trumpet call

How Big

whooping
  • Informal
4.9
huge
1.0
large
1.0
considerable
305 4.6

Surface Forms

whooping positive

Morphology

whooping = whoop (opaque) = whoop + ing

The form is built on whoop + -ing, but the modern informal meaning 'extremely large' is a lexicalized intensifier that is not directly predictable from the base verb.

Etymology

Whooping meaning 'extremely large' is a helpful image: it comes from the loud sound whoop you might make when you are shocked by a very big amount. So a whooping sum is so large it makes people shout.