stupendous
Americanadjective
-
causing amazement; astounding; marvelous.
stupendous news.
- Synonyms:
- extraordinary
-
amazingly large or great; immense.
a stupendous mass of information.
- Synonyms:
- prodigious, gigantic, vast, colossal
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stupendous
1965–70; < Latin stupendus, gerund of stupēre to be stunned; see -ous
Explanation
Stupendous means amazing or awesome. You just won a million dollars and are donating it to charity? That’s stupendous! While you might think of stupid as a mean word for someone who isn’t smart, it can also mean senseless or stunned. If something stuns you so much that you are amazed, it is stupendous. Think of a stupendous performance or stupendous scenery. When something is big enough to astound, also use this word. The tower rose to a stupendous height. It would take a stupendous effort to improve your D in history to an A!
Vocabulary lists containing stupendous
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List 6
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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.
Near an oasis in the Gobi Desert, the stupendous mural-covered grottoes capture centuries of Buddhist art.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Seth Meyers is stupendous at hooks and jabs delivered at a lightning pace, but straightly, leaving the performance of absurdity to news headlines.
From Salon ● May 21, 2026
As Damon Hill put it on our 5 Live commentary, a stupendous weekend for the young Italian, who really put Mercedes team-mate George Russell in the shade.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
Take the stupendous performance of Apple’s stock during Cook’s tenure.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026
It was that incredible a phenomenon to me— something too stupendous to conceive.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
