marvelous
Americanadjective
-
superb; excellent; great.
a marvelous show.
- Synonyms:
- wonderful
- Antonyms:
- terrible
-
such as to cause wonder, admiration, or astonishment; surprising; extraordinary.
- Synonyms:
- miraculous, amazing, wondrous
- Antonyms:
- commonplace
-
improbable or incredible.
the marvelous events of Greek myth.
- Synonyms:
- unbelievable
Usage
What does marvelous mean? Marvelous means wonderful, extraordinary, fabulous, superb, excellent. In this sense, it is often used to praise things like works of art and artistic performances.Marvelous is the adjective form of the noun marvel, which most commonly means a thing that causes wonder. Marvelous can mean causing wonder, as well as improbable, but both of these senses are much less common than its primary meaning of “wonderful.”In British English, it is commonly spelled marvellous.Example: That was absolutely marvelous! What a wonderful show! Bravo!
Other Word Forms
- marvellousness noun
- marvelously adverb
- supermarvelous adjective
- supermarvelously adverb
- supermarvelousness noun
- unmarvellous adjective
- unmarvellously adverb
- unmarvellousness noun
- unmarvelous adjective
- unmarvelously adverb
- unmarvelousness noun
Etymology
Origin of marvelous
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English merve(il)lous, from Middle French merveilleus; equivalent to marvel + -ous
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.
Good thing, too, since they see nothing but a marvelous, AI-assisted future.
From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026
Particularly marvelous are the voyages of the Polynesians who crossed the immense Pacific a thousand years ago in double-hulled canoes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
The footage, which appears in Laura Poitras’ marvelous 2022 documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” is a haunting vision of lethal corporate greed.
From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026
How marvelous that Duvall made his screen debut as Boo Radley in the 1962 classic “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026
“Dear me! A rollicking story is a marvelous thing, but these are far more exciting than one would ever wish real life to be,” she told herself.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
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.
