frabjous
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of frabjous
1872; coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass; perhaps meant to suggest fabulous or joyous
Explanation
Frabjous means "wonderful or delightful," and you might use it to describe the feeling of winning the lottery. But then you'd have to deal with taxes, which most people find less than delightful. The word frabjous comes from Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky," included in his novel Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Alice in Wonderland. The word is first used when the hero triumphantly kills the terrifying Jabberwock, and it looks like words such as fabulous, joyous, and possibly fair, so people started using it to mean "extremely good." Carroll coined a bunch of other words in the same poem including galumph, chortle, and burble. How frabjous!
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.
Lewis Carroll of the Bells: “Hark how the bells go dongleding And with a swilvy twankling say, ‘Let all your cares go flarrowing This frabjous Christmas Day!’
From Washington Post • Sep. 9, 2021
For most politicians, this would be a frabjous day.
From The Guardian • Nov. 3, 2018
Blend of "chuckle" and "snort", created by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass: "'O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy."
From The Guardian • Jun. 17, 2014
Now, on the occasion of Charles Dodgson's sesquicentennial, the matter has been rectified with Martin Gardner's frabjous Annotated Snark.
From Time Magazine Archive
There is an irresistibly humorous episode where the instrument of destruction goes "snicker snack," and a fine hilarity at "'O frabjous day Callooh, callay,' He chortled in his joy."
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.
