wonder
noun · verb
Simple meaning
a feeling of surprise and amazement caused by something new
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
wuhnderSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈwʌndɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
A sense of awe, astonishment and curiosity, inspired by unexpected events, novel experiences and inexplicable circumstances, sometimes accompanied by surprise, shock or reverence.
countable
Something that causes amazement or awe; a marvel.
An astonishing and seemingly inexplicable turn of events.
A feat that demonstrates incredible finesse or skill, as if performed by magic.
(colloquial, sarcastic, following an adjective ending -less that typically has two syllables) A nominalizer that serves as a head noun for the preceding adjective, which together form a mocking or insulting epithet.
Fortunate circumstances.
verb
intransitive
To be affected with surprise or admiration; to be struck with astonishment; to be amazed; to marvel; often followed by at.
transitiveintransitive
To ponder; to feel doubt and curiosity; to query in the mind.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A sense of awe, astonishment and curiosity, inspired by unexpected events, novel experiences and inexplicable circumstances, sometimes accompanied by surprise, shock or reverence.
Used this way, wonder is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It turns up most in literature or storytelling contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Curious and questioning
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Literature/storytelling
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use wonder
- “I wonder whether this was the right thing to do.”verb
- “He wondered who had built this beautiful church.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A prodigy whose talents are recognized at an early age.
A man who is unusually successful at an early age.
Annual semi-erect bushy plant of tropical South America bearing long pods with white seeds grown especially for forage.
A woman who can be a successful wife and have a professional career at the same time.
South African perennial with long-lasting spikes of white blossoms that are shipped in to Europe and America for use as winter cut flowers.
Impressive monuments created in the ancient world that were regarded with awe.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A place or scene of great or strange beauty or wonder.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.