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.
A view echoed by pensioner Lyubov Pavlenko who called the ceasefire "wonderful" news.
From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026
“We see some wonderful opportunities, and we hope to get busy very quickly,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
Charles Whitbread, the estate's owner, said it was a "long and complex journey" and seeing the beavers in their new habitat was "truly wonderful".
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
“Maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.”
From Salon • Apr. 7, 2026
This was something Duane wholeheartedly agreed with, as ice was at the top of his list of wonderful, beautiful things in the world.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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.
