Lordy

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Lord +‎ -y. Nineteenth century, originally U.S.

Interjection

Lordy

  1. Expressing mild emotion, such as exasperation or frustration.
    Lordy! Where's he off to now?
    • 1889 July 11, Herbert Tidd Bradley, “Fo' He am de Lord of de blue and de gray”, in America: A Journal for Americans, volume 2, page 453:
      Aunt Betty graciously permitted this. She always did; but if the forgetful old man wandered for a moment away from his theme she brought him back with a surreptitious: “Lordy! yo' ole head done filled wid me yit."
    • 2011 July 18, John Cassidy, quoting James Comey, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker‎[1], →ISSN:
      “I said, ‘Lordy, we have to put tops on bottoms. Let’s get something done,’ ” Comey recalled.
    • 2025 June 19, Scott Heller, quoting Stephen Fry, “Stephen Fry Knows He’s Become a Middle-Aged Cliché”, in The New York Times‎[2], →ISSN:
      In 2021, the Times described you as an “avuncular public intellectual.” How do you feel about that label?
      [Stephen Fry:] Oh my lordy lord. Avuncular gives me great pleasure.
  2. Expressing strong emotion, such as amazement.
    • 1863 March, “A horrible scrape”, in The Southern Literary Messenger, volume 37, page 172:
      Lordy! Call your dogs off, call your dogs off! Oh! Lordy! call em off quick! quick!
    • 2008 September 14, Craig McLean, “Rock review: AC/DC, Rock 'n' Roll Train”, in The Observer‎[3]:
      It can only be AC/DC: black black black! with the first single from their first new album in eight years, Black Ice. It's blues-metal heaviosity in exelcis[sic]. Not clever but, oh lordy, it's big.

Usage notes

Often used in a combination like “Oh Lordy”, “Oh Lordy Lord” or even repeated “Oh Lordy, Lordy Lord”.

Synonyms

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.