What it means
Yikes is the instant little wince you let out when something goes awkwardly, painfully or alarmingly wrong, half sympathy and half oh no. The verbal flinch for a cringe moment.
Usage examples
"He replied-all to the whole company by mistake, yikes."
"Yikes, that bill is way higher than I expected."
"Yikes, you sent that text to your mum instead of your mate."
"Saw his old tweets resurface on the timeline. Yikes."
Where it comes from
Recorded in English since at least the mid 20th century as a sharp little cry of alarm or dismay. It likely grew out of older exclamations such as yipe or yip, then later got a big second life online, where it became the perfect typed wince for awkward, painful, or deeply cringe moments.
