Word.ws English Dictionary

wait for it

wait for it phrase: used to draw attention to and build suspense, often ironically, for a remark to come.

Phrase

wait for it

  1. (colloquial, idiomatic) Used to draw attention to and build suspense, often ironically, for a remark to come.
    • I just found out that my ex-wife, who never wanted children, now has two kids called, wait for it, Ludwig and Balthazar.
    • The National Museum of Crime and Punishment invites couples to "delight their dark side" this Valentine's Day weekend with -- wait for it -- stories of violence against romantic partners?2011 February 10, Carissa Dimargo, “'Crimes of Passion' Glorified for Valentine's Day”, in NBC Washington

Questions about wait for it

What does wait for it mean?
Wait for it means used to draw attention to and build suspense, often ironically, for a remark to come.
What part of speech is wait for it?
Wait for it is a phrase.

Words near wait for it in the dictionary

  1. wait a minute
  2. wait and see
  3. wait around
  4. wait for
  5. wait for Godot
  6. wait for it
  7. wait for the ball to drop
  8. wait for the cat to jump
  9. wait for the dust to settle
  10. wait for the other shoe to drop
  11. wait in the wings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wait for it (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-wait for it.ogg.

Cite this entry: “wait for it.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wait_for_it. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.