dear me

Interjection

1. An expression of surprise, dismay, or indulgent disapproval.
   • "Dear me, Mr. Holmes. Dear me!" said this singular epistle. There was neither superscription nor signature. I laughed at the quaint message; but Holmes showed unwonted seriousness.1915, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear
   • "Dear me," said Mrs. Flanders, when she read in the Scarborough and Harrogate Courier that the Rev. Andrew Floyd, etc., etc., had been made Principal of Maresfield House, "that must be our Mr. Floyd."1922, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Jacob's Room

   Synonyms:

   wow, dammit, tut tut