Word.ws English Dictionary

who would have thunk it

UK/ˈhuː wʊd həv ˈθʌŋk ɪt/

who would have thunk it phrase: a rhetorical question used to express incredulity: who would have guessed it?; who would have thought that would happen?

Phrase

who would have thunk it?

  1. (colloquial, sarcastic, sometimes) A rhetorical question used to express incredulity: who would have guessed it?; who would have thought that would happen?
    • He stayed until he saw she had recovered her self possession, then he left, telegraphed to Mr. Hinsdale of Helen's safe arrival—always the same thoughtful fellow—and then went home and wrote sonnets to his lady love. "Who'd have thunk it of 'im?"1895 September, Frances Cora Perce, “A Sonata of the Woods”, in W. S. B. Mathews, editor, Music. A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Art, Science, Technic and Literature of Music, volume VIII, Chicago...
    • "Hello, Muggs!" he cried, vainly trying to bestow a pat upon that unquiet animal. "Say, Trevor, hasn't he grown? He's twice the size he was when you got him!" / "It's a way puppies have." / "You don't say so? Who'd have thunk it![…]"1906, Ralph Henry Barbour, “In the Rowing-room”, in Captain of the Crew, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company, page 147

Synonyms of who would have thunk it

Origin of who would have thunk it

The word thunk is a humorous, nonstandard past participle of think.

Questions about who would have thunk it

What does who would have thunk it mean?
Who would have thunk it means a rhetorical question used to express incredulity: who would have guessed it?; who would have thought that would happen?
What part of speech is who would have thunk it?
Who would have thunk it is a phrase.
How do you pronounce who would have thunk it?
Who would have thunk it is pronounced /ˈhuː wʊd həv ˈθʌŋk ɪt/ (UK).

Words near who would have thunk it in the dictionary

  1. who watches the watchers
  2. who whom
  3. who would have guessed
  4. who would have known
  5. who would have thought it
  6. who would have thunk it
  7. who would've thunk it
  8. who woulda thunk it
  9. who writes this stuff
  10. who'd
  11. who'd a thunk it

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: who would have thunk 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-who would have thunk it.ogg.

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