wonder
verb (used without object)
to think or speculate curiously.
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Trivia Time
What Wonder of the Ancient World was granted honorary status on the New Seven Wonders list?
wonder
American
[wuhn-der]
/ ˈwʌn dər /
verb (used without object)
-
wonders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wondered,
past participle, past
-
wondering
present participle
-
to think or speculate curiously.
to wonder about the origin of the solar system.
- Synonyms:
- question, ponder, meditate, conjecture
-
to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; marvel (often followed byat ).
He wondered at her composure in such a crisis.
-
to doubt.
I wonder if she'll really get here.
verb (used with object)
-
wonders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wondered,
past participle, past
-
wondering
present participle
-
to speculate curiously or be curious about; be curious to know.
to wonder what happened.
-
to feel wonder at.
I wonder that you went.
- Synonyms:
- marvel
noun
-
wonders
plural
-
something strange and surprising; a cause of surprise, astonishment, or admiration.
That building is a wonder. It is a wonder he declined such an offer.
-
the emotion excited by what is strange and surprising; a feeling of surprised or puzzled interest, sometimes tinged with admiration.
He felt wonder at seeing the Grand Canyon.
- Synonyms:
- awe, bewilderment, amazement, astonishment, surprise
-
miraculous deed or event; remarkable phenomenon.
idioms
wonder
1
British
/ ˈwʌndə /
noun
-
the feeling excited by something strange; a mixture of surprise, curiosity, and sometimes awe
-
something that causes such a feeling, such as a miracle
-
(modifier) exciting wonder by virtue of spectacular results achieved, feats performed, etc
a wonder drug
a wonder horse
-
to achieve spectacularly fine results
-
surprisingly or amazingly
-
a subject that arouses general surprise or public interest for a short time
-
(sentence connector) (I am) not surprised at all (that)
no wonder he couldn't come
-
(sentence connector) (I am) hardly surprised (that)
small wonder he couldn't make it tonight
verb
-
to indulge in speculative inquiry, often accompanied by an element of doubt (concerning something)
I wondered about what she said
I wonder what happened
-
to be amazed (at something)
I wonder at your impudence
Wonder
2
British
/ ˈwʌndə /
noun
wonder
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wondersimple
-
wonderssimple
-
have wonderedperfect
-
has wonderedperfect
-
am wonderingprogressive
-
are wonderingprogressive
-
is wonderingprogressive
-
have been wonderingperfect progressive
-
has been wonderingperfect progressive
Past
-
wonderedsimple
-
had wonderedperfect
-
was wonderingprogressive
-
were wonderingprogressive
-
had been wonderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wonder
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English wundor; cognate with Dutch wonder, German Wunder, Old Norse undr; (verb) Middle English wonderen, Old English wundrian, derivative of the noun
Explanation
When you wonder about something, you want to learn more about it. You wonder why the car is making that noise so you ask the mechanic to explain it. Wonder comes from the Old English word wundor, which means "marvelous thing, the object of astonishment." For example, the Taj Mahal is one of the great wonders of the world, so beautiful and magical. But wonders are all around us — anything that amazes and marvels is a wonder, like high-definition television, the Internet, your mom's homemade pizza — though we tend to forget this because we are used to them.
Vocabulary lists containing wonder
Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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"LAFFF"
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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:
But I do wonder if him being a low-key character hurts him.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
No wonder almost half of U.S. adults under 30 get their news from TikTok.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
"Our children deserve to live in Bulgaria, rather than wonder how to escape," she said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
You have to wonder if he’ll lose a bit of the arrogance, if the space between Watters’ segments and the network’s chosen tack will grow even wider.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
It’s no wonder they were giving away these Phillies hats for free.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Wonder has been married Tomeeka Bracy since 2017.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Wonder seeks to evict Efferson after she allegedly refused to allow inspectors into the property earlier in the summer and failed to vacate the home in August, despite receiving a 30-day notice in late July.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
But after Meta’s recent launch of its frontier-level Wonder models and the viral success of Muse, Wall Street seems to believe that the cash burn is more than justified.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
Since then, their music has appeared in films like Wonder Woman and video games such as League of Legends.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
He was staring up at the Wonder Dome in awe.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
She wonders whether her performance as Holmes is instructive, destructive, or some form of both.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
Ms. Hall’s young Medea wonders what would change “if women were allowed to be poets: they could then tell stories from a different perspective.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: At a train platform at King’s Cross station in London, a secret portal leads to a hidden world of wizards, trolls, ghosts and other wonders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
On “Heal My Faith,” the rapper who first gained mainstream attention by lighting the pop chart’s sacred cows afire wonders why we can’t all just get along.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026
She wonders if all of her will ever feel healed at the same time.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
If you wondered where the panel-banging budget went, it’s here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
Despite the polite crowd at my screening, I wondered if questionable theater etiquette came into play elsewhere.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026
People wondered what was Vrancken going to do to change this.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
As I peeled the tape off my picture frames and glanced around the cleaned apartment, I wondered if I had been unnecessarily paranoid.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
I wondered why I didn’t, but I wasn’t sure.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
"We are now wondering whether other asteroids have the same isotopic signature as Bennu and Ryugu," Schönbächler goes on to state.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
The Brewers haven’t appeared in the World Series in 44 years, and owner Mark Attanasio said nervous fans already are wondering whether their next appearance will be 44 years away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Just under a year ago, Harry Brook was left wondering if he would be sacked as England white-ball captain and what damage he had done to his international career.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Planners of events agonized over which of the two should be asked to make opening or closing remarks, wondering if either would view one slot as inferior to the other, one of the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
“You must be wondering what this is about,” she says, unzipping her case.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
