stupendous

English

Etymology

First attested from 1547, from Late Latin stupendus (“stunning, amazing”), from the verb stupeō (“(I) am stunned”). Doublet of stupend (which is obsolete), and related to stupor and stupid.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• 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:large

Derived terms

• stupendously
• stupendousness

Related terms

• stupid
• stupor

Translations

astonishingly great or large

• Bulgarian: изумителен (bg) (izumitelen)
• 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)
• Norwegian: fantastisk (no)
• Russian: грома́дный (ru) (gromádnyj), огро́мный (ru) (ogrómnyj), колосса́льный (ru) (kolossálʹnyj)

of stunning excellence

• Bulgarian: поразителен (bg) (porazitelen)
• 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)
• Spanish: estupendo (es)

References

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