cowabunga
/ˌkaʊəˈbʌŋɡə/interjection
cowabunga is spelled C-O-W-A-B-U-N-G-A: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, cowabunga means “Expressing amazement, enthusiasm, or joy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in cowabunga?
| Letters | 9: C-O-W-A-B-U-N-G-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 15 million words; the 115,751st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cowabunga?
Cowabunga appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cowabunga?
- Australia /ˌkæɔəˈbaŋɡə/
- UK /ˌkaʊəˈbʌŋɡə/
- US /ˌkaʊəˈbʌŋɡə/
Cowabunga has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-cowabunga.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cowabunga
- cowabonga
- kawabonga
- kowabonga
- kowabunga
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cowabunga mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
slangExpressing amazement, enthusiasm, or joy.
Cowabunga, dude!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does cowabunga come from?
Unknown, but was popularized (as Kowa-Bunga) by Chief Thunderthud on the American children's show Howdy Doody in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and became associated with American surfing culture. By the early 1980s, it was used as the catch-phrase of Cookie Monster on the American television show Sesame Street, and gained popularity with a broader audience after its use in the American cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (For further treatment, see here.)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).