Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) a mild excl., euph. for Jesus! excl.

1925		Dos Passos Manhattan Transfer 148: Jeze dey’ll tink it funny to see a messengerboy up here in dis suit. [Ibid.] 281: Jez we’re goin up the East River Sarge.
1925		G. Lee ‘Trouper Talk’ in AS I:1 37: Jeez! Right off, she’s a wow.
1926		(con. 1918) J.W. Thomason Fix Bayonets! 64: Je’s, I don’t keep count of no days!
1927		W. Edge Main Stem 32: Jeeze, you do waste a lot of time getting into your pajamas.
1928		R. Carr Rampant Age 106: Jeesy, I’d raise hell about that!
1929		H.W. Brecht Downfall 184: ‘Gees,’ he exclaimed.
1930		G. Milburn ‘Mulligan Stew’ Hobo’s Hornbook 80: Holy Jeez! but that guy was some liar!
1931		‘William Hatfield’ Sheepmates 175: Be jaze!
1932		(con. 1919) Dos Passos Nineteen Nineteen in USA (1966) 374: But jeez, it’s too good; that’s damn nice of you.
1933		R. Chandler ‘Blackmailers Don’t Shoot’ Red Wind (1946) 103: The driver said: ‘Jeeze!’ in a shattered voice.
1933		J. Spenser Limey 37: Jees! You’re all over goose pimples, Limey!
1935		S. Kingsley Dead End Act I: tommy: Boy! Duh nuts! spit: Geeze, great!
1938		C. Beaton Cecil Beaton’s N.Y. 205: Jeese, just see the way they feed the ball each other.
1938		R. Chandler ‘The King in Yellow’ in Spanish Blood (1946) 89: Geez, the dust on that one must be a foot thick.
1938		X. Herbert Capricornia (1939) 66: By jees Orscar — j’know you’n me’s relairted?
1941		F. Swados House of Fury (1959) 125: Jeez, I coudn’t jump over no horse.
1941		K. Tennant Battlers 12: Why, I didn’t come up as high as the horses’ belly! Geeze!
1943		Mass-Observation Report on Juvenile Drinking 11: They’ll stick me in a concentration camp yet. But, Jeeze, it couldn’t be worse than the place I’m in.
c.1943		S .J. Baker Aus. Vulgarisms [t/s] 6: Jesus: Jeez, jeewizz, gee, jiminy, by Jove, by George, by jingo, by jingies, jericho, jerusalem. [added in pencil: Jiminy Cricket.
1944		A. Marshall These Are My People (1957) 59: ‘Here, dint it [i.e. a hat] like mine,’ I said [...] ‘Jeese, no!’ he exclaimed, backing away.
1946		F.J. Hardy ‘The Load of Wood’ in Man From Clinkapella 7: Jees, it was cold last night.
1947		I. Shulman Amboy Dukes 79: Geez, I’m jumpy.
1948		S.L. Elliott Rusty Bugles 62: ‘By Jeez, they’ll have a ruddy jack-up here [...] if they don’t’.
1949		‘F. Bonnamy’ Blood and Thirsty (1952) 196: Jeez, I got the jerks.
1952		J. Jones From Here to Eternity (1998) 469: Jees, Prew, I’m scared.
1953		W. Brown Monkey On My Back (1954) 63: Geeziz, you never can tell.
1953		W. Brown Run, Chico, Run (1959) 22: Geezuz, it took a man to pull a score, didn’t it?
1953		L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 223: Aw jeese, don’t feel bad.
1955		E. Hunter Blackboard Jungle 47: Dover, I didn’t do nothin’, teach. Jeez ...
1957		Kerouac On The Road (1972) 113: Geez, what are you running, an international whorehouse?
1957		‘Nino Culotta’ They’re a Weird Mob (1958) 35: Gees, a bloody dago.
1964		L. Hansberry Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window in Three Negro Plays (1969) I ii: You really should have married Sidney so that the two of you could have minded the world’s business together. Jees!
1967		M. Anthony Green Days by River 127: I forgot clean, O jeese!
1968		P. Barnes Ruling Class II ii: Jeez, I can’t make up my mind.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 88: Geez you look lucky, Jack.
1970		‘Red’ Rudensky Gonif 15: Geeze, I think I’ll suffocate before we get out.
1971		A. Buzo The Roy Murphy Show (1973) 127: Jees, I tell you what, fellas, it’s a case of too much hops.
1974		D. Ireland Burn 125: Gees, don’ let ’em bull you, Billy.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 100: These guys look like conspiracies all by themselves. Jeez!
1978		A. Maupin Tales of the City (1984) 15: Jees [...] Awful picky for a girl without a job.
1979		Lette & Carey Puberty Blues 9: Geez, you looked priddy on Fridee night at the dance, Kim.
1982		J. Sullivan ‘A Losing Streak’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] Jeeze and I’ve got three tens!
1986		S. King It (1987) 202: Jeezum, he sounds just like a pig.
1988		B. Humphries Complete Barry McKenzie 12: Jeez, I can hear the seagulls.
1989		(con. 1968) W.E. Merritt Where the Rivers Ran Backward 258: Jeeze, what happened to your leg?
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 140: Geez, you should see the crowd.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 97: Geez, he could use a shooter of whiskey.
1992		M. Coleman Fatty 27: Here he was, this little dumpy bloke with the red hair. I thought, geez, how can he play?
1993		(con. 1945) S. McAughtry Touch and Go 58: For Jaze’ sake, I could bate him with my cap.
1994		J. O’Connor Secret World of the Irish Male (1995) 86: Jaze it would make you throw the head altogether.
1995		Sun. Trib. (Dublin) 6 Aug. n.p.: Jayz! wharrakip! Not much chance of any action around here [BS].
1997		C. Hiaasen Lucky You 305: Geez, I don’t know.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 Jeezum 1. Jesus. Used as an exclamation. Note: a bastardization of the name, most likely to prevent offending the religions. (‘I got up for only a minute! Why’d you go and take my seat? Jeezum!’).
1998		J. O’Connor Salesman 309: ‘Jaze,’ he said. ‘I’m fuckin’ scarlet now.’.
1998		A. Warner Sopranos 143: Jeezo, none of us’ll sleep the night, eh boys?
1999		K. Sampson Powder 77: Fuck off! Jeez, Wheezer, you shouldn’t talk about stuff you don’t understand. [Ibid.] 81: Jeezuz! Without the crowd there, there’d be no vibe.
1999		Observer Screen 24 Oct. 3: Jeez, this is depressing!
1999		T. Dorsey Florida Roadkill 63: I’m thinking, geez, this used to be a great state.
2004		E. Weiner Drop Dead, My Lovely (2005) 4: Peter. Jeez. How do you feel?
2007		L. Redhead Cherry Pie [ebook] ‘Jeez, literature with a capital L’.
2011		NY Rev. Books 17 Mar. 🌐 Palin isn’t even sure God will help her; though she cries out to Him [...] ‘Help me, Lord’ and ‘I’m scared . . . Holy Jeez!’.
2011		J.J. DeCeglie Drawing Dead [ebook] Geez that gun in her mouth gave me warm feelings all over.
2012		(con. 1954) ‘Jack Tunney’ Tomato Can Comeback [ebook] Sheez, kid, how many times you gonna read that?
2014		Pando Qly Spring 50/1: Jeez, this is going to ruin my image.
2021		C. Hammer Opal Country 80: ‘Jeez,’ says Ivan. [...] The priest frowns. ‘Language, please. This is a house of God’.