oh my goodness gracious
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
An expression of strong surprise or shock
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Oh my goodness gracious, I just won the lottery!
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “oh my goodness gracious” mean?
An expression of strong surprise or shock
Is “oh my goodness gracious” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.