What does whopped mean?
Whopped is the past tense and past participle of whop, an informal verb meaning to strike with considerable force. It is also widely used figuratively for defeating an opponent or overwhelming someone, often with the sense that the result was decisive or lopsided: a team may get whopped, or one boxer may whop another. The phrase "got whopped" is especially familiar from North American sports coverage, though whopped also occurs in British and other varieties of informal English. Its tone can range from playful and emphatic to comic, so it is unsuitable for formal writing when a neutral term such as defeated or overwhelmed is intended. Whopped is related to the basic verb whop and to the American variant wop. Its associated forms include the third-person singular whops, the gerund and adjective whopping, and the noun whopper.
verbTo strike someone or something with a hard blow. In figurative use, it means to defeat or overwhelm someone decisively.
- To strike someone or something with a hard blow
- To defeat or overwhelm someone decisively
- To overwhelm or exhaust someone completely
"The underdog whopped the defending champion in the final."
"The boxer whopped his opponent in the second round."
"Our team got whopped in its first game of the season."
When the underdog wins, the scoreboard may say one team was crushed—but sports writers often say it was absolutely whopped.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of whopped
Whopped derives from the English verb whop, whose precise origin is uncertain; the sound is probably imitative of a forceful impact. The verb developed both literal meanings involving hard blows and figurative meanings involving decisive defeat. Whop is also represented by the chiefly American variant wop, from which forms such as wopped developed in parallel.
Related word forms
How whopped is actually used
Whopped is informal and often conveys a forceful, decisive, or exaggerated result. The expression "got whopped" is especially common in informal North American English, particularly in sports reporting. The word can sound comic or playful even when describing a serious defeat.
Easily confused with whopped
"Whopped" means struck, defeated, or overwhelmed, whereas "whooped" means shouted with excitement or excitement.
"Whopped" retains the final /p/ sound, while "whipped" is pronounced with /t/ in some accents and commonly means beaten or beaten by a whip.