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
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
More Positive Words to Describe a Person
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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.
So I asked my wonderful family doctor, I said, “Can you just do one of those MRIs and see?”
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
Quizzed by former former BBC Breakfast co-host, Sian Williams, she said: "I'll never forget that nor regret doing it. It was a wonderful experience."
From BBC • May 25, 2026
Her words bear a wonderful complexity thanks to Palmer, who’s perfectly cast in her lead role.
From Salon • May 22, 2026
“This was becoming part of America, and I thought that was a wonderful thing Jewish culture did.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
I feel the way I used to when Celia let me tag along for big-kid sledding and trick-or-treating with her friends —grown up and on the brink of something wonderful.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
