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wondrous

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Causing wonder; astonishing or marvelous—used to describe the sublime, divine, or extraordinary in lyrical praise.

Detailed Definition
“Wondrous” conveys awe—wondrous sight, wondrous love. In poetry, it frames the sublime or miraculous. The term’s brightness suits lyrical praise. Poets use it to explore how wonder transforms perception, where wondrous moments reveal hidden beauty, reinforcing themes of revelation, joy, and the extraordinary in ordinary in narrative and lyrical traditions.
Example
Example in poetry:
“A wondrous light filled the hall,” in a miraculous scene; In Milton: “Wondrous things are sung of thee”; “Her beauty was wondrous, not mere fair”; “The child’s eyes held wondrous awe”; “Wondrous is the power of a single word”; The wondrous dawn broke chains.
Additional Notes
“Wondrous” intensifies marvel beyond “wonderful”; in Romantic or fairy-tale verse, it frames the sublime or magical (“wondrous sight”), preserving older adverbial use (“wondrous fair”) for rhythmic elegance.
Also Known As
wonderful marvelous astonishing amaying
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