holy moley
Synonym of wow, an expression of surprise.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Holy moley, that is a huge spider.”
“Holy moley, I cannot believe you actually won the lottery after buying just one ticket.”
“Holy moley, the sheer scale of the mountain range took my breath away as we emerged from the tunnel.”
A euphemism for Holy Mary, the term employs Molly as a nickname for Mary. Its structure invites comparison to the similar exclamation holy Moses.
- 01
holy buckets
An exclamation of surprise or astonishment.
- 02
holy catfish
Expressing terror, awe, surprise, astonishment, etc.
- 03
holy cow
An exclamation of surprise or astonishment.
- 04
holy crap
An expression of amazement: holy cow, holy shit.
- 05
holy crap on a stick
Emphatic form of holy crap.
- 06
holy crickets
An expression of surprise or astonishment.
- 07
holy crud
holy crap; holy shit
- 08
holy doodle
An expression of surprise.
Last updated August 10, 2026