zapped, adj.

zapped
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zapped_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# 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?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

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

1. zap, int. 1929–
2. Zapata, n. 1962–
3. zapateado, n. 1845–
4. Zapatism, n. 1911–
5. Zapatismo, n. 1913–
6. Zapatist, n. & adj. 1911–
7. Zapatista, n. & adj. 1911–
8. zapote, n. 1842–
9. Zapotec, n. & adj. 1797–
10. zappe, v. c1600
11. zapped, adj.1962–
12. zapper, n. 1969–
13. zapping, n. 1972–
14. zappy, adj. 1969–
15. zaptieh, n. 1869–
16. ZAPU, n. 1961–
17. Zar, n. 1868–
18. Zarathustrian, adj. & n. 1859–
19. Zarathustrianism, n. 1864–
20. Zarathustric, adj. 1848–
21. Zarathustrism, n. 1871–

## Meaning & use

slang (originally U.S.).

1. 1962–
   See zap v.
   1. 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
   2. 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
   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
   4. 1980

      > She was pale and sweating; clearly what Mr. Steinberg would call ‘zapped’.

      R. Adams, Girl in Swing xix. 254
   U.S. English colloquial and slang
   1. awonder 1154–1522
      past participle. Amazed, astonished, astounded.
   2. wonderful c1380–1583
      Filled with wonder or admiration. Obsolete. rare.
   3. astonied c1400–
      Greatly surprised, amazed, astonished. archaic.
   4. marvelling?a1425–
      That marvels; filled with astonishment.
   5. amazed 1548–
      Filled with wonder, astonishment, or great surprise; astounded. Also: expressing or characterized by these feelings.
   6. admirative 1582–
      Characterized by or full of admiration; admiring.
   7. thunderstricken a1586–
      figurative. = thunderstruck, adj. 2.
   8. wondering 1592–
      That wonders.
   9. stonished 1595
   10. thunderstruck 1613–
       figurative. Struck with sudden amazement, terror, or the like; greatly amazed, astonished, terrified, or confounded.
   11. dump 1616–22
       In a ‘dump’, amazed, perplexed; to strike dump, to strike with amazement. (But perhaps an error for to strike dumb.) Obsolete.
   12. rapt 1621
       Transported spiritually, by religious feeling or inspiration. With beside, beyond, from, out of (oneself), into. Obsolete.
   13. admired 1684–
       Of a person or group: struck with wonder, astonishment, or surprise. Now rare.
   14. astonished 1716–
       Amazed, full of surprised wonder.
   15. breathless 1768–
       Experiencing strong feelings of excitement, expectation, anticipation, etc., such as might make one hold one's breath. Also: designating the…
   16. unbreathing 1789
       Not breathing or respiring; esp. holding the breath; breathless.
   17. agazed 1803
       In an astounded or amazed state. Frequently with stand. Also as adj.: astounded, amazed.
   18. astounded 1810–
       Shocked mentally, amazed; confounded with surprise and wonder.
   19. obfuscated 1822–
       Of a person or his or her faculties: confused, bewildered; †amazed, flabbergasted (obsolete); (U.S. slang) spec. befuddled with alcohol, intoxicated…
   20. struck with thunder 1823–
       figurative. struck with thunder = thunderstruck, adj. 2a. rare.
   21. surprised 1882–
       Excited to wonder by something unexpected; affected or characterized by surprise.
   22. zapped 1962–
   23. mind-blown 1967–
       Amazed, astounded, mentally overwhelmed; mentally exhausted (esp. as a result of drug use).
   24. gob-struck 1985–
       Amazed, astounded; = gobsmacked, adj.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. broken Old English–
      Overwhelmed by anguish, despair, or grief to the point where one is permanently altered; crushed beyond endurance by misfortune or affliction.
   2. deject c1528–
      Cast down from one's position, lowered in fortunes; lowered in character, abject, abased.
   3. abased 1554–
      Made lower in rank, condition, or character; humbled, humiliated, degraded.
   4. come 1564–
      With adverbs, in the sense ‘that has come——’, as come out, come up, etc. In earlier use modified by new (cf. new-come, adj.).
   5. downfallen 1575–
      That has fallen from an upright or elevated position; that has collapsed.
   6. snubbed 1583–
      Checked, restrained; repressed by snubbing.
   7. crestfallen 1589–
      With drooping crest; hence, cast down in confidence, spirits, or courage; humbled, abashed, disheartened, dispirited, dejected.
   8. humiliate 1593
      Humiliated, humbled. Obsolete.
   9. plume-plucked 1597–
      a. Stripped of a source of pride, humbled; b. literal (of a bird) that has had its feathers or plumes plucked (rare).
   10. low-brought a1599
       Brought to a low or unfortunate condition (see low, adj. phrases P.4); reduced to a state of distress or weakness.
   11. chop-fallen 1604–
       With the lower jaw fallen, hanging down, or shrunk; figurative, dejected, dispirited, miserable, crestfallen; = chap-fallen, adj.
   12. chap-fallen 1608–
       figurative. Dejected, dispirited; crestfallen.
   13. dejected 1608–1721
       Lowered in estate, condition, or character; abased, humbled, lowly. Obsolete.
   14. humbled a1616–
   15. unprided 1628
       Deprived of pride or self-esteem; humbled, demeaned.
   16. diminished 1667–
       Lowered in importance, estimation, or power (see diminish, v. I.3).
   17. mortified 1710–
       Deeply humiliated or embarrassed; annoyed, vexed, chagrined.
   18. small 1771–
       As complement with to feel, to look: humiliated, mortified, injured in self-respect. Cf. sense A.IV.18a.
   19. humiliated 1782–
   20. squelched 1837–
   21. grovelled a1845–
       Humiliated, debased.
   22. sat-upon 1873–
       Downtrodden, humiliated, crushed.
   23. comedown 1886
       That has come down; spec. reduced in power or status, ruined. Obsolete.
   24. deflated 1894–
   25. zapped 1962–
   26. morto 1991–
       Mortified, extremely embarrassed.
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. punished a1525–
      Subjected to punishment.
   2. chastened a1785–
      Corrected by disciplinary punishment.
   3. penalized 1848–
      That is subject to a penalty or a punishment (in various senses of the verb).
   4. zapped 1962–
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. slain a1225–
      That has been slain; killed, slaughtered.
   2. mortificate a1425–1568
      Killed, slain; dead.
   3. killed c1440–
      Deprived of life; put to death. Usually of meat, with qualifying word, as fresh-killed, country-killed, etc.
   4. murdered c1450–
      That has been murdered (in various senses of the verb).
   5. amortized a1626
      Destroyed, extinguished. Obsolete. rare.
   6. unlived 1626–42
      Deprived of life.
   7. fallen 1871–
      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…
   8. outed 1919–
      slang. Killed.
   9. zapped 1962–
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. plucked 1827–
      Of an examination candidate, etc.: that has failed or been rejected (see pluck, v. 8). Also (occasionally) as n. with the and plural agreement…
   2. zapped 1962–
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. yscote 1387–
      Shot.
   2. shot 1837–
      Hit, wounded or killed by a projectile discharged from a gun or bow. Also with down: of an aircraft or its crew.
   3. gunned-down 1954–
      That has been gunned down (see to gun down 1 at gun, v. phrasal verbs 1).
   4. zapped 1962–
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. rapped-out 1831–
      Done or uttered sharply, rapidly, or vigorously.
   2. zapped 1962–
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. zapped 1962–
   View in Historical Thesaurus
   1. forflitten 1603–
      Scolded above measure.
   2. chidden 1609–
      Reproved, rebuked, scolded.
   3. reproved 1658–
      That has been criticized or disapproved of; subject to rebuke; blameworthy.
   4. rated 1808–
      Scolded, severely rebuked.
   5. blown-up 1863–
      With adverbs, as blown-back, blown-down, blown-up. For blown in and out see blow, v.¹ II.ii.19.
   6. objurgated 1867–
   7. trounced 1898–
   8. zapped 1962–
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## 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 data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### 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

Originally published as part of the entry for zap, v.

zap, v. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.