stupendous

English

Etymology

First attested from 1547, from Late Latin stupendus (“stunning, amazing”), from Latin stupere (“to be stunned”). Compare stupid.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /stuˈpɛndəs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /stjuˈpɛndəs/
• Rhymes: -ɛndəs

Adjective

stupendous (comparative more stupendous, superlative most stupendous)

1. Astonishingly great or large; huge; enormous.

   One cannot appreciate how stupendous the Matterhorn is without seeing it.

2. Of stunning excellence or degree; marvelous.

   The renovator created a stupendous new look for our house.

Synonyms

• colossal, enormous, huge, marvelous, prodigious, terrific, tremendous
• See also Thesaurus:gigantic

Derived terms

• stupendously
• stupendousness

Related terms

• stupid
• stupor

Translations

astonishingly great or large

• Dutch: verbazend (nl), verbazingwekkend (nl), kolossaal (nl), overweldigend (nl)
• French: merveilleux (fr)

• Japanese: 途轍もない (とてつもない, totetsumonai)
• Russian: грома́дный (ru) (gromádnyj), огро́мный (ru) (ogrómnyj), колосса́льный (ru) (kolossálʹnyj)

of stunning excellence

• Hungarian: rendkívüli (hu)
• Japanese: 途轍もない (とてつもない, totetsumonai)

• Portuguese: estupendo (pt)
• Russian: грандио́зный (ru) (grandióznyj), изуми́тельный (ru) (izumítelʹnyj)

References

• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.