marvel
Americannoun
-
marvels
plural
-
something that causes wonder, admiration, or astonishment; a wonderful thing; a wonder or prodigy.
The new bridge is an engineering marvel.
-
Archaic. the feeling of wonder; astonishment.
verb (used with object)
-
marvels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
marveled,
past participle, past
-
marvelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
marveling,
present participle
-
marvelling
present participle (especially British)
-
to wonder at (usually followed by a clause as object).
I marvel that you were able to succeed against such odds.
-
to wonder or be curious about (usually followed by a clause as object).
A child marvels that the stars can be.
verb (used without object)
-
marvels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
marveled,
past participle, past
-
marvelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
marveling,
present participle
-
marvelling
present participle (especially British)
verb
noun
-
something that causes wonder
-
archaic astonishment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
marvelsimple
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marvelssimple
-
have marveledperfect
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have marvelledperfect
-
has marveledperfect
-
has marvelledperfect
-
am marvelingprogressive
-
am marvellingprogressive
-
are marvelingprogressive
-
are marvellingprogressive
-
is marvelingprogressive
-
is marvellingprogressive
-
have been marvelingperfect progressive
-
have been marvellingperfect progressive
-
has been marvelingperfect progressive
-
has been marvellingperfect progressive
Past
-
marveledsimple
-
marvelledsimple
-
had marveledperfect
-
had marvelledperfect
-
was marvelingprogressive
-
was marvellingprogressive
-
were marvelingprogressive
-
were marvellingprogressive
-
had been marvelingperfect progressive
-
had been marvellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of marvel
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English mervel, from Old French merveil(l)e, from Late Latin mīrābilia “marvels,” noun use of neuter plural of Latin mīrābilis “marvelous”; see admirable
Explanation
The Latin source of the word marvel is mirari, "to wonder at," and that's exactly what marvel means when it's a verb. You may marvel at the depth of the Grand Canyon or at the size of a piece of cake. When it entered the English language in 1300, marvel meant "miracle" –- that is, a supernatural act of divine agency (miracle actually comes from the same Latin word as marvel). By 1386, Geoffrey Chaucer was able to use the Middle English meruailles to describe more mundane astonishment. Chaucer also used marvel –- maruaylen, actually –- as a verb. In contemporary usage, the close synonym wonder is used much more often –- unless you happen to be a fan of the comic book universe created by Stan Lee. As a noun, anything that provokes wonder is a marvel.
Vocabulary lists containing marvel
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from Act 2
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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:
The gown’s sudden reappearance is a marvel wrapped in a mystery, she noted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
You have to marvel at the ease with which they managed to bilk multiple welfare programs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
Watch an impressive new movie: Wildwood, the new animated film from the studio that made Coraline, is a marvel.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2026
Gareth Bale, the Welsh marvel, who has more Champions League winner's medals than the rest of this list combined.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
When she'd trained at the Arcanum as a kid, no one appreciated her particular marvel.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
The design shop features marvels such as a lipstick matching the exact hue of Austrian socialite Adele Bloch-Bauer’s lips as painted in Klimt’s gold-flecked 1907 portrait of her, displayed on the museum’s second floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
After the delays and cost increases, these projects have not exactly delivered reliable marvels.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
Ken Olin, the “thirtysomething” star-turned-director who helmed many a baby-filled episode of Fogelman’s earlier series, “This Is Us,” marvels at how Woodley delivers devastating emotions beyond anything he thought he captured on set.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
One of the marvels of this novel is how effortlessly such sentences land, despite being honed to perfection.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Memories of marvels, and of powerful Marvellers of the past.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Prospective Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday marveled at the scale of Democrats' "incredible victory" in US congressional elections, singling out the high cost of living as the defining issue of the midterms.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
While teammates still marveled at his talent during his debut season in L.A., they also noticed that he kept to himself off the court at first.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
In 1933, Fortune magazine marveled that Ford was “as much interested in the soya bean as he is in the V-8” engine.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
“And with music in Spanish, not English,” marveled Lara.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
He came at a run, as a dog will come when it is called, and the gods marveled to see how big he was and how powerful.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
And in May 2025 Trump sounded more than a little envious of his Arab hosts as he praised the marble of Qatar's royal palace as "perfecto" and marvelled at Saudi Arabia's architecture.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
"I can make out all the letters of the alphabet, even the smallest ones," he marvelled, pointing to his phone screen.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
On social media, fans said the child prodigy was the "greatest nepo baby of all time" as they marvelled at her flawless dance routines.
From BBC ● May 2, 2025
Maher, a crochety liberal-leaning comic who has grown more crochety and less liberal as societal norms have passed him by, marvelled at the fact that he could make the commander-in-chief laugh.
From Salon ● Apr. 22, 2025
Ralph marvelled as the stars came out; the car moved so fast, yet they stayed so still.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
Others are marveling at how far they’ve come in preparing for the event.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
We would be sipping ice-cold spritzes at cafés overlooking the Mediterranean, frolicking down cobblestone streets lined with charming boutiques, and marveling at the frescoes and marble sculptures adorning grand cathedrals.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
I’ve returned, spending time with friends, exploring neighborhoods, enjoying the parks and marveling at the lakes that seem to appear around every corner.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
“She would stare at a tree: ‘Look at the way the sun goes through the branches,’” Padilla says, marveling.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
In another hour or two, a steady stream of people would pass by, admiring it, and reading it, and looking at Wilbur, and marveling at the miracle.
From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White
Passengers tend to spend the first few minutes of the ride "marvelling, videoing the steering wheel moving on its own, taking selfies", Fischer said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Australian tourist Olivia Martell-Groves went all in for the seasonal experience, and donned a flower-printed kimono while marvelling at the flowers.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
His own style, which is to say his mind, was compulsively metaphorical, gorgeously maximal, enough so to make him worry about “an implicit marvelling at myself as expressor.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
Amateur photographer Mick Priddle was standing on a cliff marvelling at the sky when he heard two loud screams from the sand below.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2025
And yet Odysseus gazed out marvelling at the ships and harbors, public squares, and ramparts towering up with pointed palisades along the top.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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