Dictionary

stupendous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /stjuˈpɛndəs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /stuˈpɛndəs/ (General-American)

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 Doublet of stupend (which is obsolete), and related to stupor and stupid.

Meanings

1. Astonishingly great or large; huge; enormous.
   • Over the broadest there seemed to spring a cragged and stupendous arch, from which, as from the jaws of hell, gushed the sources of the sudden Phlegethon. 1834, Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, The Last Days of Pompeii:
   • One cannot appreciate how stupendous the Matterhorn is without seeing it.
   • The entrance to Fonthill—that truly cloud-capt palace, so fantastic and so transitory—was by two stupendous doors, which seemed to defy the strength of giants. 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 80:
2. Of stunning excellence or degree; marvelous.
   • The renovator created a stupendous new look for our house.

Forms

Antonyms

stupid

Deriveds

stupendousness · unstupendous · stupendously

Relateds

stupid · stupor

Synonyms

colossal · tremendous · enormous · terrific · prodigious · huge · marvelous

Translations (33)

bg поразителен (of stunning excellence) · ja 途轍もない (astonishingly great or large) · ru изуми́тельный (of stunning excellence) · mk изво́нреден (of stunning excellence) · es groso (astonishingly great or large) · hu rendkívüli (of stunning excellence) · cs obrovský (astonishingly great or large) · nl verbazingwekkend (astonishingly great or large) · mk неверо́јатен (of stunning excellence) · es de buten (of stunning excellence) · bg изумителен (astonishingly great or large) · mk о́громен (astonishingly great or large) · hi ग़ज़ब (astonishingly great or large) · no fantastisk (astonishingly great or large) · nl verbazend (astonishingly great or large) · ja 途轍もない (of stunning excellence) · cs ohromný (astonishingly great or large) · fr merveilleux (astonishingly great or large) · ru колосса́льный (astonishingly great or large) · pt estupendo (of stunning excellence) · nl kolossaal (astonishingly great or large) · nl overweldigend (astonishingly great or large) · es estupendo (of stunning excellence) · eo kolosa (astonishingly great or large) · ru огро́мный (astonishingly great or large) · cs úžasný (of stunning excellence) · es de bute (of stunning excellence) · mk колоса́лен (astonishingly great or large) · ru грома́дный (astonishingly great or large) · hi विस्मयकारी (astonishingly great or large) · es groso (of stunning excellence) · cs nesmírný (astonishingly great or large) · ru грандио́зный (of stunning excellence)