wonder
verb (used without object)
to think or speculate curiously.
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Trivia Time
What Wonder of the Ancient World was granted honorary status on the New Seven Wonders list?
wonder
American
[wuhn-der]
/ ˈwʌn dər /
verb (used without object)
-
wonders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wondered,
past participle, past
-
wondering
present participle
-
to think or speculate curiously.
to wonder about the origin of the solar system.
- Synonyms:
- question, ponder, meditate, conjecture
-
to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; marvel (often followed byat ).
He wondered at her composure in such a crisis.
-
to doubt.
I wonder if she'll really get here.
verb (used with object)
-
wonders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wondered,
past participle, past
-
wondering
present participle
-
to speculate curiously or be curious about; be curious to know.
to wonder what happened.
-
to feel wonder at.
I wonder that you went.
- Synonyms:
- marvel
noun
-
wonders
plural
-
something strange and surprising; a cause of surprise, astonishment, or admiration.
That building is a wonder. It is a wonder he declined such an offer.
-
the emotion excited by what is strange and surprising; a feeling of surprised or puzzled interest, sometimes tinged with admiration.
He felt wonder at seeing the Grand Canyon.
- Synonyms:
- awe, bewilderment, amazement, astonishment, surprise
-
miraculous deed or event; remarkable phenomenon.
idioms
wonder
1
British
/ ˈwʌndə /
noun
-
the feeling excited by something strange; a mixture of surprise, curiosity, and sometimes awe
-
something that causes such a feeling, such as a miracle
-
(modifier) exciting wonder by virtue of spectacular results achieved, feats performed, etc
a wonder drug
a wonder horse
-
to achieve spectacularly fine results
-
surprisingly or amazingly
-
a subject that arouses general surprise or public interest for a short time
-
(sentence connector) (I am) not surprised at all (that)
no wonder he couldn't come
-
(sentence connector) (I am) hardly surprised (that)
small wonder he couldn't make it tonight
verb
-
to indulge in speculative inquiry, often accompanied by an element of doubt (concerning something)
I wondered about what she said
I wonder what happened
-
to be amazed (at something)
I wonder at your impudence
Wonder
2
British
/ ˈwʌndə /
noun
wonder
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wondersimple
-
wonderssimple
-
have wonderedperfect
-
has wonderedperfect
-
am wonderingprogressive
-
are wonderingprogressive
-
is wonderingprogressive
-
have been wonderingperfect progressive
-
has been wonderingperfect progressive
Past
-
wonderedsimple
-
had wonderedperfect
-
was wonderingprogressive
-
were wonderingprogressive
-
had been wonderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wonder
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English wundor; cognate with Dutch wonder, German Wunder, Old Norse undr; (verb) Middle English wonderen, Old English wundrian, derivative of the noun
Explanation
When you wonder about something, you want to learn more about it. You wonder why the car is making that noise so you ask the mechanic to explain it. Wonder comes from the Old English word wundor, which means "marvelous thing, the object of astonishment." For example, the Taj Mahal is one of the great wonders of the world, so beautiful and magical. But wonders are all around us — anything that amazes and marvels is a wonder, like high-definition television, the Internet, your mom's homemade pizza — though we tend to forget this because we are used to them.
Vocabulary lists containing wonder
Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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"LAFFF"
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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:
It’s overwhelming these experiences, almost to the point where it makes me wonder, did they really happen or not?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
Consumers in China are starting to wonder — for good reason — whether the emerging AI travel agents have a hidden agenda.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
After my dad had a flare-up of shingles, I started to wonder if I should look into getting the vaccine for myself.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2026
But without more detail, some wonder if voters will know enough to make a judgement.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
Every now and then I wonder what she would think of the things I do or don’t do.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne – who wrote the films Wonder and Enola Holmes, as well as the Harry Potter And The Cursed Child stage play – is also providing financial backing to the scheme.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
A loaf of Wonder bread marked $2.80 that rang up at $3.35.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
A legal representative for Wonder, 76, did not comment and did not clarify the singer’s reported relationship with Efferson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
However, Thill voiced optimism that Meta’s latest Muse Wonder models will appeal to both personal and business agents, with significant revenue potential for enterprise use cases.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
“That’s right. If Rae Ellen has a Wonder, anybody can have one.”
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
One MarketWatch reader planning an affordable Europe getaway wonders whether social-media recommendations are worth following.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
Her detective, the Victorian policeman William Monk, suffers from amnesia, and sometimes wonders exactly who he is.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
She wonders whether her performance as Holmes is instructive, destructive, or some form of both.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
He wonders whether older generations were “more prepared to be challenged by fiction,” without distractions like streaming or social media competing for their attention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
While I worked on the teleporter, Klawde described the wonders of his home planet.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
On the bench, Carrick must have wondered if his luck will ever change.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
"But type VI retrons caught our attention because they didn't appear to have this signature. It was very odd, and we wondered if they might be broken."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
I wondered what languages are spoken in her household.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
“I have wondered if Mark would try to rename it again,” said Harbath.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
I thought of you in that moment and wondered if this was how you’d felt when you sent us away.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
“Now it’s top versus bottom. And people on the bottom are wondering what the hell is going on.”
From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2026
I’m wondering if, at this point, things feel different, just in terms of what you’re able to do.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026
"I kept wondering when it would stop because I really felt as though I had been coated by the heat itself."
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
High expectations lead to disappointment, but I’m wondering: What exactly did you expect?
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
I was wondering if we had things in common.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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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.
