holy moley
2
9.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
¡santo cielo!
- Holy moley, this ain't Chicago!
Examples
-
Ten minutes later, July cried out jubilantly, "Holy moley!"
Fiction book (1993)
Synonyms
90
8.9
A short cry to show surprise, confusion, disbelief, or casual acceptance
26
9.9
A strong phrase people say when they are very surprised or shocked
17
9.4
A short informal cry showing surprise or strong feeling
8
7.6
A short phrase people say to show surprise or disbelief
5
7.5
A short phrase people say to show surprise or shock
4
9.5
A short word people say when they are surprised or shocked
3
8.2
A short cry to show strong surprise or admiration
3
9.6
To say when you are very surprised or shocked
A short shout to show surprise or amazement
To show surprise or doubt
A short shout that shows surprise or shock
A word people say to show strong surprise
A short phrase people say when they feel surprised or do not believe something
A friendly phrase people say to show surprise or excitement
A strong spoken reaction showing surprise and disbelief
A short shocked cry showing disbelief about something ridiculous
A short cry showing surprise or shock
A strong cry showing surprise or shock
A short phrase showing surprise or disbelief used by people who call on Allah
How Surprised
- Informal
2
9.6
- Informal
- Informal
∞
1.0
- Informal
2
7.0
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
holy + moley
The exclamation 'holy moley' is an idiomatic minced oath where 'moley' has no independent lexical meaning and 'holy' (sacred) does not transparently convey 'surprise' by itself. A B1 learner who knows the constituents but not this fixed expletive or its minced-oath origin would not reliably derive the meaning, so the expression is opaque.
Etymology
Holy moley may come from people changing an older religious shout like 'holy Moses' into a funny rhyme, moley. That's why holy moley is used today as a mild shout of 'surprise'.