marvel
Americannoun
-
marvels
plural
-
something that causes wonder, admiration, or astonishment; a wonderful thing; a wonder or prodigy.
The new bridge is an engineering marvel.
-
Archaic. the feeling of wonder; astonishment.
verb (used with object)
-
marvels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
marveled,
past participle, past
-
marvelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
marveling,
present participle
-
marvelling
present participle (especially British)
-
to wonder at (usually followed by a clause as object).
I marvel that you were able to succeed against such odds.
-
to wonder or be curious about (usually followed by a clause as object).
A child marvels that the stars can be.
verb (used without object)
-
marvels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
marveled,
past participle, past
-
marvelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
marveling,
present participle
-
marvelling
present participle (especially British)
verb
noun
-
something that causes wonder
-
archaic astonishment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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marvelsimple
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marvelssimple
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have marveledperfect
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have marvelledperfect
-
has marveledperfect
-
has marvelledperfect
-
am marvelingprogressive
-
am marvellingprogressive
-
are marvelingprogressive
-
are marvellingprogressive
-
is marvelingprogressive
-
is marvellingprogressive
-
have been marvelingperfect progressive
-
have been marvellingperfect progressive
-
has been marvelingperfect progressive
-
has been marvellingperfect progressive
Past
-
marveledsimple
-
marvelledsimple
-
had marveledperfect
-
had marvelledperfect
-
was marvelingprogressive
-
was marvellingprogressive
-
were marvelingprogressive
-
were marvellingprogressive
-
had been marvelingperfect progressive
-
had been marvellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of marvel
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English mervel, from Old French merveil(l)e, from Late Latin mīrābilia “marvels,” noun use of neuter plural of Latin mīrābilis “marvelous”; see admirable
Explanation
The Latin source of the word marvel is mirari, "to wonder at," and that's exactly what marvel means when it's a verb. You may marvel at the depth of the Grand Canyon or at the size of a piece of cake. When it entered the English language in 1300, marvel meant "miracle" –- that is, a supernatural act of divine agency (miracle actually comes from the same Latin word as marvel). By 1386, Geoffrey Chaucer was able to use the Middle English meruailles to describe more mundane astonishment. Chaucer also used marvel –- maruaylen, actually –- as a verb. In contemporary usage, the close synonym wonder is used much more often –- unless you happen to be a fan of the comic book universe created by Stan Lee. As a noun, anything that provokes wonder is a marvel.
Vocabulary lists containing marvel
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from Act 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
With AI images bleeding into the real world at a pace none of us can keep up with, there’s human marvel to behold in Anderson’s madness.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
The fall theater season is still in a fledgling state, but with this marvel of a show it is off to a heartening—make that breathtaking—start.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Beethoven sans ego, in almost any setting, is a marvel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
The Ming dynasty floating-crab cup is a marvel to behold.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
She wondered how he could do that, how his marvel worked.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
After the delays and cost increases, these projects have not exactly delivered reliable marvels.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
He marvels at the latest evidence of the grandchildren’s genius, like any grandfather should, and spoils them with treats and toys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
An African or Caribbean man of perhaps 30 marvels at his room service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Emparanza marvels at the speed of such AI-driven fermentation design.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
“This is the most physical activity you’ve had in months,” she marvels.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
In 1933, Fortune magazine marveled that Ford was “as much interested in the soya bean as he is in the V-8” engine.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
“And with music in Spanish, not English,” marveled Lara.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The scene marked a staggering shift for a man who, at the height of the pandemic, marveled at his own “unimaginable” fame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
As I walked through downtown, I marveled at how the overwhelmingly Gen Z throngs expressed their mexicanidad.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
“Our first clue,” Glory marveled at the moving arrows.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
"I think you guys are our loudest crowd ever, literally," marvelled Megan Skiendiel.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
And in May 2025 Trump sounded more than a little envious of his Arab hosts as he praised the marble of Qatar's royal palace as "perfecto" and marvelled at Saudi Arabia's architecture.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
"I can make out all the letters of the alphabet, even the smallest ones," he marvelled, pointing to his phone screen.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
Moyes marvelled at the way United's new number one dealt with Everton's bombardment of corners, which drew criticism from some - but Lammens accepts as part of the game.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026
Miss Honey marvelled at the child's lack of conceit and self-consciousness.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
We would be sipping ice-cold spritzes at cafés overlooking the Mediterranean, frolicking down cobblestone streets lined with charming boutiques, and marveling at the frescoes and marble sculptures adorning grand cathedrals.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
While Altman visited St. Barts in the Caribbean during the December holiday break, coders in San Francisco spent hours on “Claude-benders,” marveling at capabilities enabled by a new Anthropic model called Opus 4.5.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
I’ve returned, spending time with friends, exploring neighborhoods, enjoying the parks and marveling at the lakes that seem to appear around every corner.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
“To have someone like Michael Mayer say, ‘Come play this Russian chess master,’ because there’s something in me that he believed in, that is so cool,” he said, still marveling at his good fortune.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Hazel waited for the crunch-slosh of Jack’s approach, marveling at the coldness at her center.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
Passengers tend to spend the first few minutes of the ride "marvelling, videoing the steering wheel moving on its own, taking selfies", Fischer said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Australian tourist Olivia Martell-Groves went all in for the seasonal experience, and donned a flower-printed kimono while marvelling at the flowers.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
His own style, which is to say his mind, was compulsively metaphorical, gorgeously maximal, enough so to make him worry about “an implicit marvelling at myself as expressor.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
Amateur photographer Mick Priddle was standing on a cliff marvelling at the sky when he heard two loud screams from the sand below.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2025
Then she'd made a Masterji Thakur question list: Could he give her more books on spice marvelling?
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
