wowser

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wow·ser

 (wou′zər)
n. Chiefly Australian
A person regarded as obnoxiously puritanical.

[Possibly from dialectal wow, to howl, complain, of imitative origin.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

wowser

(ˈwaʊzə)
n
1. a fanatically puritanical person
2. (Brewing) a teetotaller
[C20: from English dialect wow to whine, complain]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

wow•ser

(ˈwaʊ zər)

n.
Australia and New Zealand. an excessively puritanical person.
[1895–1900; orig. uncertain]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Translations

wowser

n (Austral inf)
(= killjoy)Miesmacher(in) m(f) (inf)
(= teetotaller)Abstinenzler(in) m(f)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
References in periodicals archive ?
And when Canadian Mark McMorris did his stuff, just one word would do from the commentary box: "Wowsers!" Followed by, for emphasis: "WOWSERS!" My mate Markus, we were told, "learned to double cork at 11, triple cork at 13 and was the first person to land a quadruple cork at 17."
The first viewing of our lodge, named Vista, was met with a chorus of approval from all five of us and was quickly followed by shouts of "wowsers" on spotting the enormous hot tub on the veranda.
The wowsers have a point, at least some of the time.
Elsewhere, Gregg's coinvestigator Cherry Healey (also enthusiastic - she occasionally says "wowsers") is discovering the secrets of the tea leaf in an African tea processing plant.
Elsewhere, Gregg's co-investigator Cherry Healey (also enthusiastic - she occasionally says "wowsers") is discovering the secrets of the tea leaf in an African tea processing plant.
Elsewhere, Gregg's co-investigator Cherry Healey (also enthusiastic - she actually says "wowsers") is discovering the secrets of the tea leaf in an African processing plant.
It's a real wowsers red, that is basically Jessica Rabbit in lipstick form.
They were tough, in a laconic fashion, opposed to the Church, the State, wowsers and censorship.
Stevi also recalled his "wowsers in the trousers" moment when Cheryl Fernandez-Versini handed him a lifeline on the TV series.
(3) No change, repeat, no change, after 13 years, between targeted populations who do-gooder wowsers have "conversations" with about smoking, eating lettuce and going jogging, and the control group slackers, who puff like trains, are down the chippie every night and get up from the TV couch to get another beer and call that exercise.
He told another paper there was a powerful alliance of 'manufacturers, brewers, unions and wowsers' against him.