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 of well-nigh full employment and fatter paychecks.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 3, 2018
For most politicians, this would be a frabjous day.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 3, 2018
Few days have ever proved as richly, fortuitously frabjous as the beamish afternoon of July 4, 1862.
From Time Magazine Archive
He bombarded her with imported candy and American beauties, and cluttered up the spring with a series of whist parties, which butted into the social calendar something frabjous.
From At Good Old Siwash by George Fitch
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