zappedadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective zapped mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zapped. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
Entry status
OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.
How common is the adjective zapped?
| 1960 | 0.0039 |
| 1970 | 0.0044 |
| 1980 | 0.0048 |
| 1990 | 0.0048 |
| 2000 | 0.0056 |
| 2010 | 0.0063 |
Where does the adjective zapped come from?
Earliest known use
1960s
The earliest known use of the adjective zapped is in the 1960s.
OED's earliest evidence for zapped is from 1962, in American Speech.
Nearby entries
- zap, int.1929–
- Zapata, n.1962–
- zapateado, n.1845–
- Zapatism, n.1911–
- Zapatismo, n.1913–
- Zapatist, n. & adj.1911–
- Zapatista, n. & adj.1911–
- zapote, n.1842–
- Zapotec, n. & adj.1797–
- zappe, v.c1600
- zapped, adj.1962–
- zapper, n.1969–
- zapping, n.1972–
- zappy, adj.1969–
- zaptieh, n.1869–
- ZAPU, n.1961–
- Zar, n.1868–
- Zarathustrian, adj. & n.1859–
- Zarathustrianism, n.1864–
- Zarathustric, adj.1848–
- Zarathustrism, n.1871–
Meaning & use
- 1962–See zap v.
- 1962
‘Zapped’... I first heard it in 1952 while I was an undergraduate at Brown University. The term was in vogue..to designate precisely the process by which a student..had his ‘come-uppance’ in class or on an examination.
American Speech vol. 37 71 - 1966
Maybe truce negotiations won't be possible until the Viet Cong are zapped to the point of accepting the impossibility of military victory.
Punch 21 December 911/3 - 1976
Despite his allure, could she really endure him? But the chap's got her zapped.
National Observer (U.S.) 22 May 12/4 - 1980
She was pale and sweating; clearly what Mr. Steinberg would call ‘zapped’.
R. Adams, Girl in Swing xix. 254
- awonder1154–1522past participle. Amazed, astonished, astounded.
- wonderfulc1380–1583Filled with wonder or admiration. Obsolete. rare.
- astoniedc1400–Greatly surprised, amazed, astonished. archaic.
- marvelling?a1425–That marvels; filled with astonishment.
- amazed1548–Filled with wonder, astonishment, or great surprise; astounded. Also: expressing or characterized by these feelings.
- admirative1582–Characterized by or full of admiration; admiring.
- thunderstrickena1586–figurative. = thunderstruck, adj. 2.
- wondering1592–That wonders.
- stonished1595
- thunderstruck1613–figurative. Struck with sudden amazement, terror, or the like; greatly amazed, astonished, terrified, or confounded.
- dump1616–22In a ‘dump’, amazed, perplexed; to strike dump, to strike with amazement. (But perhaps an error for to strike dumb.) Obsolete.
- rapt1621Transported spiritually, by religious feeling or inspiration. With beside, beyond, from, out of (oneself), into. Obsolete.
- admired1684–Of a person or group: struck with wonder, astonishment, or surprise. Now rare.
- astonished1716–Amazed, full of surprised wonder.
- breathless1768–Experiencing strong feelings of excitement, expectation, anticipation, etc., such as might make one hold one's breath. Also: designating the…
- unbreathing1789Not breathing or respiring; esp. holding the breath; breathless.
- agazed1803In an astounded or amazed state. Frequently with stand. Also as adj.: astounded, amazed.
- astounded1810–Shocked mentally, amazed; confounded with surprise and wonder.
- obfuscated1822–Of a person or his or her faculties: confused, bewildered; †amazed, flabbergasted (obsolete); (U.S. slang) spec. befuddled with alcohol, intoxicated…
- struck with thunder1823–figurative. struck with thunder = thunderstruck, adj. 2a. rare.
- surprised1882–Excited to wonder by something unexpected; affected or characterized by surprise.
- zapped1962–
- mind-blown1967–Amazed, astounded, mentally overwhelmed; mentally exhausted (esp. as a result of drug use).
- gob-struck1985–Amazed, astounded; = gobsmacked, adj.
- brokenOld English–Overwhelmed by anguish, despair, or grief to the point where one is permanently altered; crushed beyond endurance by misfortune or affliction.
- dejectc1528–Cast down from one's position, lowered in fortunes; lowered in character, abject, abased.
- abased1554–Made lower in rank, condition, or character; humbled, humiliated, degraded.
- come1564–With adverbs, in the sense ‘that has come——’, as come out, come up, etc. In earlier use modified by new (cf. new-come, adj.).
- downfallen1575–That has fallen from an upright or elevated position; that has collapsed.
- snubbed1583–Checked, restrained; repressed by snubbing.
- crestfallen1589–With drooping crest; hence, cast down in confidence, spirits, or courage; humbled, abashed, disheartened, dispirited, dejected.
- humiliate1593Humiliated, humbled. Obsolete.
- plume-plucked1597–a. Stripped of a source of pride, humbled; b. literal (of a bird) that has had its feathers or plumes plucked (rare).
- low-broughta1599Brought to a low or unfortunate condition (see low, adj. phrases P.4); reduced to a state of distress or weakness.
- chop-fallen1604–With the lower jaw fallen, hanging down, or shrunk; figurative, dejected, dispirited, miserable, crestfallen; = chap-fallen, adj.
- chap-fallen1608–figurative. Dejected, dispirited; crestfallen.
- dejected1608–1721Lowered in estate, condition, or character; abased, humbled, lowly. Obsolete.
- humbleda1616–
- unprided1628Deprived of pride or self-esteem; humbled, demeaned.
- diminished1667–Lowered in importance, estimation, or power (see diminish, v. I.3).
- mortified1710–Deeply humiliated or embarrassed; annoyed, vexed, chagrined.
- small1771–As complement with to feel, to look: humiliated, mortified, injured in self-respect. Cf. sense A.IV.18a.
- humiliated1782–
- squelched1837–
- grovelleda1845–Humiliated, debased.
- sat-upon1873–Downtrodden, humiliated, crushed.
- comedown1886That has come down; spec. reduced in power or status, ruined. Obsolete.
- deflated1894–
- zapped1962–
- morto1991–Mortified, extremely embarrassed.
- slaina1225–That has been slain; killed, slaughtered.
- mortificatea1425–1568Killed, slain; dead.
- killedc1440–Deprived of life; put to death. Usually of meat, with qualifying word, as fresh-killed, country-killed, etc.
- murderedc1450–That has been murdered (in various senses of the verb).
- amortizeda1626Destroyed, extinguished. Obsolete. rare.
- unlived1626–42Deprived of life.
- fallen1871–Of a person: dead (applied especially to persons killed in battle or while on active service; cf. B.2). Formerly also: †(of a combatant, army…
- outed1919–slang. Killed.
- zapped1962–
- yscote1387–Shot.
- shot1837–Hit, wounded or killed by a projectile discharged from a gun or bow. Also with down: of an aircraft or its crew.
- gunned-down1954–That has been gunned down (see to gun down 1 at gun, v. phrasal verbs 1).
- zapped1962–
the world movement rate of motion swiftness swift movement in specific manner [adjectives] having moved swiftly and vigorously- rapped-out1831–Done or uttered sharply, rapidly, or vigorously.
- zapped1962–
- zapped1962–
the mind attention and judgement contempt disapproval rebuke or reproof [adjectives] rebuked or scolded- forflitten1603–Scolded above measure.
- chidden1609–Reproved, rebuked, scolded.
- reproved1658–That has been criticized or disapproved of; subject to rebuke; blameworthy.
- rated1808–Scolded, severely rebuked.
- blown-up1863–With adverbs, as blown-back, blown-down, blown-up. For blown in and out see blow, v.¹ II.ii.19.
- objurgated1867–
- trounced1898–
- zapped1962–
Frequency
zapped typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zapped is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zapped, adj., 1960–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 0.0039 |
| 1970 | 0.0044 |
| 1980 | 0.0048 |
| 1990 | 0.0048 |
| 2000 | 0.0056 |
| 2010 | 0.0063 |