legendary

adjective

leg·​end·​ary ˈle-jən-ˌder-ē 

-ˌde-rē

1

: of, relating to, or characteristic of legend or a legend

legendary creatures of the sea

2

: well-known, famous

a legendary football player

legendarily

ˌle-jən-ˈder-ə-lē 

-ˈde-rə-

adverb

Synonyms

• fabled
• fabulous
• mythical
• mythic

Choose the Right Synonym for legendary

fictitious, fabulous, legendary, mythical, apocryphal mean having the nature of something imagined or invented.

fictitious implies fabrication and suggests artificiality or contrivance more than deliberate falsification or deception.

fictitious characters

fabulous stresses the marvelous or incredible character of something without necessarily implying impossibility or actual nonexistence.

a land of fabulous riches

legendary suggests the elaboration of invented details and distortion of historical facts produced by popular tradition.

the legendary exploits of Davy Crockett

mythical implies a purely fanciful explanation of facts or the creation of beings and events out of the imagination.

mythical creatures

apocryphal implies an unknown or dubious source or origin or may imply that the thing itself is dubious or inaccurate.

a book that repeats many apocryphal stories

Examples of legendary in a Sentence

legendary creatures from the sea

He is the most legendary football player of his time.

Recent Examples on the Web

OutKast released six albums during their legendary run during the Nineties and early 2000s, with their final album, Idlewild, arriving in 2006. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 13 Dec. 2024

The legendary wide receiver urged Favre to be transparent in regard to the Mississippi money scandal. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024

That year, the founders did a shoot with legendary model and journalist Benedetta Barzini, who remains a friend of the brand and features also in the images promoting the new collection. —Sandra Salibian, WWD, 13 Dec. 2024

In James Mangold’s glorious, mysterious not-quite-a-biopic A Complete Unknown, Norton plays legendary folksinger Pete Seeger, a man with sunshine in his voice—but also one who stood up fearlessly to the House Un-American Activities Committee. —Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 13 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

legendary

adjective

leg·​end·​ary ˈlej-ən-ˌder-ē 

1

: of or resembling a legend

2

: well-known, famous