splendid

[ splen-did ]

adjective

1. gorgeous; magnificent; sumptuous.

   Synonyms: imposing, luxurious

   Antonyms: squalid

2. grand; superb, as beauty.

   Synonyms: first-rate, elegant, majestic

3. distinguished or glorious, as a name, reputation, victory, etc.

   Synonyms: remarkable, celebrated, conspicuous, eminent, illustrious, famous, famed, renowned, noble, brilliant

   Antonyms: unremarkable, ignoble, mediocre, ordinary

4. strikingly admirable or fine:

   splendid talents.

   Antonyms: poor, modest

5. excellent, fine, or very good:

   to have a splendid time.

6. brilliant in appearance, color, etc.

   Antonyms: drab, dull

splendid

/ ˈsplɛndɪd /

adjective

1. brilliant or fine, esp in appearance
2. characterized by magnificence; imposing
3. glorious or illustrious

   a splendid reputation

4. brightly gleaming; radiant

   splendid colours

   her splendid face

5. very good or satisfactory

   a splendid time

Derived Forms

• ˈsplendidness, noun
• ˈsplendidly, adverb

Other Words From

• splendid·ly adverb
• splendid·ness noun
• un·splendid adjective
• un·splendid·ly adverb
• un·splendid·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of splendid¹

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin splendidus “brilliant,” equivalent to splend(ēre) “to shine” + -idus adjective suffix; -id ⁴

Word History and Origins

Origin of splendid¹

C17: from Latin splendidus, from splendēre to shine

Synonym Study

See magnificent ( def ).

Example Sentences

Bossier is in the middle of nowhere, deep in the American South and surrounded by splendid and expansive forests.

From Washington Blade

Aside from the scattered rusty pipes and junked oil tanks, the field is splendid and vast, its horizon interrupted intermittently by power lines and grain bins.

From Washington Post

These days, I find myself compelled by fields that rest upon the assumption that we don’t yet know everything—we are only beginning, for instance, to understand the deep-time mechanisms of our planet’s splendid geology or what goes on in outer space.

From Outside Online

Brought back from near-extinction and reintroduced into the park in 1978, they have come to represent all that is splendid and wild at Point Reyes.

From Outside Online

As I said, Andrew Keatts is out this week and so you should direct your outrage about anything in this splendid newsletter to me and me alone.

From Voice of San Diego

In any case, culling a manageable array from the totality of splendid volumes has with each year become more difficult.

From The Daily Beast

One remaining letter thanks a friend for sending some grouse and a book, the former described as “splendid.”

From The Daily Beast

You could hardly find a vestige of the splendid railroad depots, warehouses, etc.

From The Daily Beast

But Daniel Day-Lewis is splendid as Lincoln, and Sally Field almost as good as the cunning, half-mad Mary.

From The Daily Beast

What happened to the formerly addictive, splendid, elegant costume drama?

From The Daily Beast

A splendid grand piano stands in one window (he receives a new one every year).

From Project Gutenberg

He had five girls by his first wife; there is no reason why this splendid cow I have picked out should not produce a dozen boys.

From Project Gutenberg

Adjoining the engine-house on the other side, is the stable, where five splendid horses are kept.

From Project Gutenberg

Dinner was spread in the cabin of that peerless steamer, the New World, and a splendid company were assembled about the table.

From Project Gutenberg

In the splendid woman that entered, Monsieur de Garnache saw a wonderful likeness to the boy who stood beside him.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• admirable
• brilliant
• distinguished
• exceptional
• exquisite
• fantastic
• glorious
• gorgeous
• grand
• great
• heroic
• impressive
• magnificent
• marvelous
• outstanding
• remarkable
• sublime
• superb
• superlative
• wonderful