wonderful
Americanadjective
-
excellent; great; marvelous.
We all had a wonderful weekend.
- Synonyms:
- phenomenal, astounding, amazing, astonishing, prodigious, miraculous, wondrous, awesome, strange, curious, unique
-
of a sort that causes or arouses wonder; amazing; astonishing.
The storm was wonderful to behold.
adjective
-
exciting a feeling of wonder; marvellous or strange
-
extremely fine; excellent
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wonderful
First recorded before 1100; wonder ( def. ) + -ful ( def. )
Explanation
Wonderful is better than good — it's even better than great, like your wonderful luck — finding buried treasure on your very first diving expedition. When you look at the parts that make us wonderful, it is easy to see that it means "full of wonder," or awe, admiration, even surprise. The giant Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lit up in all its splendor is a wonderful sight — tourists and New Yorkers alike stop to stare. Other things that are wonderful are very personal to you, like wonderful memories of spending time with your grandparents.
Vocabulary lists containing wonderful
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Thumbs Up: Synonyms for "Good"
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"A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long," Vocabulary from the poem
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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.
McEntire thanked Parton for "all the wonderful things you did for us here on earth. "Your love, your music and you gave so much with your huge huge heart.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” Parton said in a statement at the time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
This time, I sat there for 20 minutes and let the whole absurd, painful, ridiculous, wonderful journey wash over me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
"Styria is really a wonderful place to be. You have mountains, you have lakes, if you're interested in wine you can go wine tasting... The quality of life is very good," he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
It was even more beautiful when it was clean, more wonderful than a shell’s gleaming inside whorls, because it was whole and perfect.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
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.
