marvelous

adjective

mar·​vel·​ous ˈmärv-(ə-)ləs 

variants or chiefly British marvellous

1

: causing wonder : astonishing

the marvelous directional sense of migrating birds

2

: miraculous, supernatural

Gothic tales of marvelous and bizarre happenings

3

: of the highest kind or quality : notably superior

has a marvelous way with children

marvelously adverb

or chiefly British marvellously

marvelously inventive

sang marvelously

marvelousness noun

or chiefly British marvellousness

Synonyms

• amazing
• astonishing
• astounding
• awesome
• awful
• eye-opening
• fabulous
• miraculous
• portentous
• prodigious
• staggering
• stunning
• stupendous
• sublime
• surprising
• wonderful
• wondrous

Examples of marvelous in a Sentence

We had a marvelous time at the party.

He has a marvelous way with children.

The weather was simply marvelous.

Recent Examples on the Web

And for any thrill seekers with aviation experience, a trike flight offers truly marvelous views of Los Llanos, allowing guests to soar above the plains and scan the landscapes for native species. —Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025

Cooking Soy Sauce Noodles With Cabbage and Fried Eggs Jan. 29, 2023 Thursday Alexa Weibel developed this marvelous recipe for a creamy white bean soup with spicy paprika oil. —Sam Sifton, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025

Tampa Bay did this recently, though an asterisk will forever symbolically be attached to that nonetheless marvelous achievement because two of those seasons were dramatically shortened because of COVID. —Josh Yohe, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025

The cast included, famously, the marvelous Meryl Streep. —Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 10 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English merveillous, borrowed from Anglo-French, from merveille marvel entry 1 + -ous -ous

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

marvelous

adjective

mar·​vel·​ous

variants or marvellous

ˈmärv-(ə-)ləs 

1

: causing wonder or astonishment

2

: having the characteristics of a miracle

3

: of the highest kind or quality : splendid

we had a marvelous time

marvelously adverb

marvelousness noun