sensawunda

English

Etymology

Intentional misspelling or eye dialect rendition of sense of wonder.

Noun

sensawunda (uncountable)

1. (dated, fandom slang) Wonder or excitement invoked by the grandeur and vision of science fiction.
   • 1978, Orson Scott Card, Kalki review, Science Fiction Review, Number 28, November-December 1978, page 33:

     How does a non-science fiction writer write science fiction? We had a taste with John Hersey's WHITE LOTUS and MY PETITION FOR MORE SPACE and discovered that future visions could be presented with such reality and simplicity that our sensawunda could be thrown away and we could discover, instead, deep and beautiful characters.

   • 1989, Foundation, numbers 47-53, page 33:

     […] in order to be able to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Sultan of Alpha Centauri engineers a breath-taking re-siting of the entire solar system — sensawunda indeed!

   • 1999, Gary Wilkinson, Heaven's Reach review, Vector, Number 207, September/October 1999, page 21:

     In this one Brin thinks big and the sensawunda gets turned up to eleven. For instance instead of puny ordinary Dyson spheres, Brin gives us fractal Dyson spheres to maximise the surface area for their trillions of inhabitants.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:sensawunda.