marvelous

English

Alternative forms

• marvellous (Commonwealth English)

Etymology

First attested from 1300 as Middle English merveilous, from Old French merveillus, from merveille (“a wonder”), equivalent to marvel +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːvələs/, /ˈmɑːvləs/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑɹvələs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

marvelous (comparative more marvelous, superlative most marvelous)

1. (American spelling) Exciting wonder or surprise; astonishing; wonderful.

   I went to a marvelous party last week.

   • 1912, Daniel D. Bidwell, As Far as the East is from the West:

     The fifty little brown musicians rendered difficult selections with marvelous accuracy and gingersome dash and artistic enjoyment of the work.

   • 2003, Gary Koop, Bayesian Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., page 80:

     At first glance, importance sampling seems like a marvellous solution to any posterior simulation problem.

Usage notes

• The spelling marvelous is preferred in the United States, marvellous in Great Britain.

Translations

exciting wonder or surprise

• Arabic: مُدْهِش (mudhiš), بَدِيع (badīʕ)
• Asturian: maraviyosu
• Azerbaijani: əcaib, heyranedici, xariqüladə, valehedici, ecazkar
• Belarusian: дзіво́сны (dzivósny)
• Bengali: অলৌকিক (bn) (olōukik), অবিশ্বাস্য (bn) (obiśśasśo), বিস্ময়কর (bn) (biśśõẏokor), অদ্ভুত (bn) (odbhut)
• Bulgarian: чуден (bg) (čuden), удивителен (bg) (udivitelen)
• Catalan: meravellós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 奇妙的 (qímiàode), 非凡的, 太好了 (zh)

• Czech: úžasný (cs), udivující, obdivuhodný
• Dutch: wonderbaar (nl), geweldig (nl)
• Esperanto: mirinda
• Finnish: ihmeellinen (fi), ihana (fi), uskomaton (fi)
• French: merveilleux (fr)
• Galician: marabilloso (gl)
• Georgian: გასაოცარი (gasaocari), საოცარი (ka) (saocari), სასწაულებრივი (sasc̣aulebrivi), განსაცვიფრებელი (gansacviprebeli), საკვირველი (saḳvirveli), საუცხოო (saucxoo), ჩინებული (činebuli), შესანიშნავი (šesanišnavi)
• German: wunderbar (de), wundersam (de)
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (sildaleiks)
• Greek:

  Ancient: θαυμάσιος (thaumásios)

• Hebrew: נהדר (he) (nehedár), מדהים (madhím)
• Hungarian: csodálatos (hu)
• Icelandic: undursamlegur (is), stórkostlegur (is), undraverður
• Interlingua: meraviliose
• Italian: meraviglioso (it)
• Japanese: 驚くべき (おどろくべき, odorokubeki)
• Korean: 놀라운 (nollaun)
• Latin: mīrus (la), mirabilis
• Maori: whakamīharo, whakaharahara
• Plautdietsch: groosoatich
• Polish: cudowny (pl), zdumiewający (pl), cudny (pl)
• Portuguese: maravilhoso (pt)
• Romanian: minunat (ro)
• Russian: изуми́тельный (ru) (izumítelʹnyj), чуде́сный (ru) (čudésnyj), удиви́тельный (ru) (udivítelʹnyj), великоле́пный (ru) (velikolépnyj), превосхо́дный (ru) (prevosxódnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: mìorbhaileach
• Spanish: maravilloso (es)
• Swedish: underbar (sv)
• Telugu: అద్భుతమైన (te) (adbhutamaina)
• Turkish: harika (tr), olağanüstü (tr)
• Ukrainian: чудо́вий (čudóvyj)