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
- stupendously adverb
- stupendousness noun
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.
Take the stupendous performance of Apple’s stock during Cook’s tenure.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026
The S&P 500 index, even with its recent wobbles, has returned a stupendous 273% over the past decade, or more than 14% a year.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
Investor confidence in his leadership was manifest; the share price closed on Nov. 1, 2021, at $407.36, when the company’s market value peaked at a stupendous $1.2 trillion.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2024
His stupendous vistas are overwhelming in that format.
From Seattle Times • May 20, 2024
The place wasn’t impressive enough to carry a stupendous fact like that.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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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.