wonder
verb (used without object)
to think or speculate curiously.
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wonder
American
[wuhn-der]
/ ˈwʌn dər /
verb (used without object)
wonders,
present (3rd person singular)
wondered,
past participle, past
wondering
present participle
-
to think or speculate curiously.
to wonder about the origin of the solar system.
- Synonyms:
- question, ponder, meditate, conjecture
-
to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; marvel (often followed byat ).
He wondered at her composure in such a crisis.
-
to doubt.
I wonder if she'll really get here.
verb (used with object)
wonders,
present (3rd person singular)
wondered,
past participle, past
wondering
present participle
-
to speculate curiously or be curious about; be curious to know.
to wonder what happened.
-
to feel wonder at.
I wonder that you went.
- Synonyms:
- marvel
noun
wonders
plural
-
something strange and surprising; a cause of surprise, astonishment, or admiration.
That building is a wonder. It is a wonder he declined such an offer.
-
the emotion excited by what is strange and surprising; a feeling of surprised or puzzled interest, sometimes tinged with admiration.
He felt wonder at seeing the Grand Canyon.
- Synonyms:
- awe, bewilderment, amazement, astonishment, surprise
-
miraculous deed or event; remarkable phenomenon.
idioms
wonder
1
British
/ ˈwʌndə /
noun
-
the feeling excited by something strange; a mixture of surprise, curiosity, and sometimes awe
-
something that causes such a feeling, such as a miracle
-
(modifier) exciting wonder by virtue of spectacular results achieved, feats performed, etc
a wonder drug
a wonder horse
-
to achieve spectacularly fine results
-
surprisingly or amazingly
-
a subject that arouses general surprise or public interest for a short time
-
(sentence connector) (I am) not surprised at all (that)
no wonder he couldn't come
-
(sentence connector) (I am) hardly surprised (that)
small wonder he couldn't make it tonight
verb
-
to indulge in speculative inquiry, often accompanied by an element of doubt (concerning something)
I wondered about what she said
I wonder what happened
-
to be amazed (at something)
I wonder at your impudence
Wonder
2
British
/ ˈwʌndə /
noun
wonder
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wondersimple
-
wonderssimple
-
have wonderedperfect
-
has wonderedperfect
-
am wonderingprogressive
-
are wonderingprogressive
-
is wonderingprogressive
-
have been wonderingperfect progressive
-
has been wonderingperfect progressive
Past
-
wonderedsimple
-
had wonderedperfect
-
was wonderingprogressive
-
were wonderingprogressive
-
had been wonderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wonder
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English wundor; cognate with Dutch wonder, German Wunder, Old Norse undr; (verb) Middle English wonderen, Old English wundrian, derivative of the noun
Explanation
When you wonder about something, you want to learn more about it. You wonder why the car is making that noise so you ask the mechanic to explain it. Wonder comes from the Old English word wundor, which means "marvelous thing, the object of astonishment." For example, the Taj Mahal is one of the great wonders of the world, so beautiful and magical. But wonders are all around us — anything that amazes and marvels is a wonder, like high-definition television, the Internet, your mom's homemade pizza — though we tend to forget this because we are used to them.
Vocabulary lists containing wonder
Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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"LAFFF"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
So, to help you stay motivated, my colleagues have curated some great recommendations to remind you that there’s still wonder and joy to be found in the world.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Given the emotion, there are times you wonder how close Ramsay-Peaty is to walking away entirely.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
What is obvious is Matisse’s superiority; little wonder that he was attacked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
To OpenAI’s credit, it disclosed this incident publicly, although I have to wonder if there would have been any way to keep this quiet in the insular tech world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
“I wonder, my dear, if I could trouble you to deliver that watch yourself?”
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
In April, his production company Wonder Project launched a joint venture called Innovative Dreams with Luma, a rival to Runway.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Maybe it’s homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made on pillowy Wonder Bread, with the crusts cut off.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
Perry helped open the first World Cup game in the US with a rendition of the little-known song Wonder from her 2024 album 143.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Yet, as Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris tell us in “The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss,” “a great thinning of the skies is under way.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
“Why on God’s green earth did you ask everybody in Sassafras Springs for a Wonder except me?”
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
After two deployments, Desma, a single mother of three, wonders whether the two years she spent overseas took her away from her son for too long.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Looking back on the process by which China since 2005 began to dominate global commerce, Tchir wonders if China is approaching the same moment in AI as it was then with industrial and consumer goods?
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
After escaping Manhattan, he wonders, “Where do you go? There’s no place else. It was like going on the lam from yourself.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Monica wonders if her health issues could have been prevented if she had been believed by doctors in the first place.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
He pays for his cup, the steaming concoction contained in black-and-white marbled swirls, and wonders for a moment before his first sip if it won’t taste as good as he remembers.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
As he snored companionably, I wondered how I’d handle our next progression, whatever that would be.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
"At a certain point, we wondered whether that same current control could be redirected from cells to molecules, replacing the neuron-facing electrodes with ring-electrode pairs that could localize pH for DNA synthesis. It worked."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
I wondered how useful he thought that might be in his life going forward.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
I know many wondered in 1976 whether it was an auspicious time to become a priest, just as Mr. McGurn asks whether now is an auspicious time to be ordained.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
I wondered if he had come to race the Iditarod or just to tell stories and have a good time.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Simon said she decided to come forward about her health issues after “so many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Simon said she had decided to speak about her diagnosis after she received letters, "kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Companies that don’t would raise a red flag, leaving investors wondering what they have against keeping the market fully informed throughout the year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Emergency shelters were set up in schools and gymnasiums in southwestern France for tourists and residents left wondering what they would return to.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
He made his way down the steep, slippery aisle, wondering how he was going to get the driver back up the aisle if the guy was unconscious.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.