splendid
Americanadjective
-
gorgeous; magnificent; sumptuous.
- Antonyms:
- squalid
-
grand; superb, as beauty.
- Synonyms:
- first-rate, elegant, majestic
-
distinguished or glorious, as a name, reputation, victory, etc.
- Synonyms:
- noble, brilliant, remarkable, celebrated, conspicuous, eminent, illustrious, famous, famed, renowned
- Antonyms:
- ignoble, mediocre, unremarkable, ordinary
-
strikingly admirable or fine.
splendid talents.
-
excellent, fine, or very good.
to have a splendid time.
-
brilliant in appearance, color, etc.
adjective
-
brilliant or fine, esp in appearance
-
characterized by magnificence; imposing
-
glorious or illustrious
a splendid reputation
-
brightly gleaming; radiant
her splendid face
splendid colours
-
very good or satisfactory
a splendid time
Related Words
See magnificent ( def. ).
Other Word Forms
- splendidly adverb
- splendidness noun
- unsplendid adjective
- unsplendidly adverb
- unsplendidness noun
Etymology
Origin of splendid
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin splendidus “brilliant,” equivalent to splend(ēre) “to shine” + -idus adjective suffix; -id 4
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.
In its many guises, idolatry has survived, despite regular and often cataclysmic proof of its dangers, for centuries and many people will consider a much-larger-than-life golden statue of a president to be perfectly splendid.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
It is a splendid example of how to do a fully rounded work on a people at total war, of how to use a vast mix of sources, and to keep the story going.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
Her take is a maelstrom of splendid beauty and doomed love, colliding at a feverish pace that makes the fidelity to Brontë’s book moot.
From Salon • Feb. 23, 2026
Elsewhere, Augsburg beat St Pauli 2-1 and Werder Bremen's Keke Topp snatched a point with a splendid late goal at home in a 1-1 draw with Borussia Moenchengladbach.
From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026
It wasn’t long before the splendid Yak-1 fighter planes were delivered to Engels.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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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.