wonderful
Americanadjective
-
excellent; great; marvelous.
We all had a wonderful weekend.
- Synonyms:
- phenomenal, astounding, amazing, astonishing, prodigious, miraculous, wondrous, awesome, strange, curious, unique
-
of a sort that causes or arouses wonder; amazing; astonishing.
The storm was wonderful to behold.
adjective
-
exciting a feeling of wonder; marvellous or strange
-
extremely fine; excellent
Other Word Forms
- unwonderful adjective
- wonderfully adverb
- wonderfulness noun
Etymology
Origin of wonderful
First recorded before 1100; wonder ( def. ) + -ful ( def. )
Explanation
Wonderful is better than good — it's even better than great, like your wonderful luck — finding buried treasure on your very first diving expedition. When you look at the parts that make us wonderful, it is easy to see that it means "full of wonder," or awe, admiration, even surprise. The giant Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lit up in all its splendor is a wonderful sight — tourists and New Yorkers alike stop to stare. Other things that are wonderful are very personal to you, like wonderful memories of spending time with your grandparents.
Vocabulary lists containing wonderful
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Thumbs Up: Synonyms for "Good"
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"A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long," Vocabulary from the poem
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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.
News, and told the outlet that being honored for his work was “a wonderful thing” but that his legacy wasn’t his work.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2026
They were wonderful, kind people, who reminded me of my family and neighbors back home.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026
"The cathedral was packed and we gave John a wonderful send-off as he was a very special man," 1985 world champion Dennis Taylor told BBC Radio 5 Live.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
Purchase imperfect secondhand garden furniture where you can sit and drink tea and read an imperfectly wonderful book by your favorite author.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026
After Mr. Kravitz had spent some time telling them what a wonderful job he had done in arranging the items, he passed out paper and said, "Start drawing."
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
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.
