Definitions for wonder
ˈwʌn dərwon·der

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. wonder, wonderment, admirationnoun

   the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising

2. wonder, marvelnoun

   something that causes feelings of wonder

   "the wonders of modern science"

3. curiosity, wonderverb

   a state in which you want to learn more about something

4. wonder, inquire, enquireverb

   have a wish or desire to know something

   "He wondered who had built this beautiful church"

5. wonder, questionverb

   place in doubt or express doubtful speculation

   "I wonder whether this was the right thing to do"; "she wondered whether it would snow tonight"

6. wonder, marvelverb

   be amazed at

   "We marvelled at the child's linguistic abilities"

Wiktionary(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Wondernoun

   One of the Wonders of the World.

2. Etymology: Old English wundrian

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Wondernoun

   Etymology: wundor , Saxon; wonder, Dutch.

   1. Admiration; astonishment; amazement; surprise caused by something unusual or unexpected.

   What is he, whose griefs
   Bear such an emphasis? whose phrase or sorrow
   Conjure the wand’ring stars, and makes them stand
   Like wonder-wounded hearers. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

   Wonder causeth astonishment, or an immoveable posture of the body; for in wonder the spirits fly not as in fear, but only settle. Francis Bacon, Natural History.

   2. Cause of wonder; a strange thing; something more or greater than can be expected.

   The Cornish wonder-gatherer describeth the same. Carew.

   Great effects come of industry in civil business; and to try things oft, and never to give over, doth wonders. Francis Bacon.

   Lo, a wonder strange!
   Of every beast, and bird, and insect small
   Came sevens, and pairs. John Milton, Paradise Lost.

   What woman will you find,
   Though of this age the wonder and the fame,
   On whom his leisure will vouchsafe an eye
   Of fond desire? John Milton, Paradise Regained.

   No wonder sleep from careful lovers flies,
   To bathe himself in Sacharissa’s eyes;
   As fair Astrea once from earth to heav’n,
   By strife and loud impiety was driven. Edmund Waller.

   Drawn for your prince, that sword could wonders do:
   The better cause makes mine the sharper now. Edmund Waller.

   3. Any thing mentioned with wonder.

   There Babylon the wonder of all tongues. John Milton.

   Ample souls among mankind have arrived at that prodigious extent of knowledge which renders them the wonder and glory of the nation where they live. Isaac Watts.

2. To WONDERverb

   To be struck with admiration; to be pleased or surprised so as to be astonished.

   Etymology: wundrian , Saxon; wonder, Dutch.

   The want of these magazines of victuals I have oftentimes complained of in England, and wondered at in other countries. Edmund Spenser, Ireland.

   His deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. Rev. xiii. 3.

   No wonder to us, who have conversed with too many strange unparallel’d actions, now to wonder at any thing: wonder is from surprise, and surprise ceases upon experience. Robert South, Sermons.

   King Turnus wonder’d at the fight renew’d. Dryden.

   Who can wonder that all the sciences have been so overcharged with insignificant and doubtful expressions, capable to make the most quick-sighted very little the more knowing. John Locke.

   I could not sufficiently wonder at the intrepidity of these diminutive mortals, who durst venture to mount and walk upon my body. Jonathan Swift.

Webster Dictionary(2.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Wondernoun

   that emotion which is excited by novelty, or the presentation to the sight or mind of something new, unusual, strange, great, extraordinary, or not well understood; surprise; astonishment; admiration; amazement

2. Wondernoun

   a cause of wonder; that which excites surprise; a strange thing; a prodigy; a miracle

3. Wonderverb

   to be affected with surprise or admiration; to be struck with astonishment; to be amazed; to marvel

4. Wonderverb

   to feel doubt and curiosity; to wait with uncertain expectation; to query in the mind; as, he wondered why they came

5. Wonderadjective

   wonderful

6. Wonderadverb

   wonderfully

7. Etymology: [OE. wonder, wunder, AS. wundor; akin to D. wonder, OS. wundar, OHG. wuntar, G. wunder, Icel. undr, Sw. & Dan. under, and perhaps to Gr. to gaze at.]

Freebase(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Wonder

   Wonder is an emotion comparable to surprise that people feel when perceiving something very rare or unexpected. It has historically been seen as an important aspect of human nature, specifically being linked with curiosity and the drive behind intellectual exploration. Wonder is also often compared to the emotion of awe but awe implies fear or respect rather than joy.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Wonder

   wun′dėr, n. the state of mind produced by something new, unexpected, or extraordinary: a strange thing: a prodigy: a sweet fried cake—also Cruller.—v.i. to feel wonder: to be amazed (with at): to speculate expectantly.—p.adj. Won′dered (Shak.), having performed, or able to perform, wonders.—n. Won′derer.—adj. Won′derful, full of wonder: exciting wonder: strange: (B.) wonderfully.—adv. Won′derfully.—ns. Won′derfulness; Won′dering.—adv. Won′deringly, with wonder.—ns. Won′derland, a land of wonders; Won′derment, surprise.—adjs. Won′derous (same as Wondrous); Won′der-struck, -strick′en, struck with wonder or astonishment.—ns. Won′der-work, a prodigy, miracle: thaumaturgy; Won′der-work′er; Won′der-work′ing.—adjs. Won′der-wound′ed (Shak.), wonder-stricken; Won′drous, such as may excite wonder: strange.—adv. Won′drously.—ns. Won′drousness.—Bird of wonder, the phœnix; Nine days' wonder, something that astonishes everybody for the moment; Seven wonders of the world (see Seven). [A.S. wundor; Ger. wunder, Ice. undr.]

Suggested Resources(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. wonder

   Song lyrics by wonder -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by wonder on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Happening
   • Respond
   • Speculate

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'wonder' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2930

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'wonder' in Written Corpus Frequency: #672

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'wonder' in Nouns Frequency: #1637

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'wonder' in Verbs Frequency: #180

Anagrams for wonder »

1. downer

2. worden

How to pronounce wonder?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say wonder in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of wonder in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of wonder in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of wonder in a Sentence

1. Andreas Simic:

   Dreamers think success is a one hit wonder, successful people know success is built one step at a time many times over. Building a solid foundation ultimately creates more future successes.

2. Jim Colucci:

   People wonder if her dementia was beginning, even back then, estelle really had a panic about knowing her lines. She’d write them on props, and asked to read from cue cards in the later years.

3. Chris Christie:

   I just wonder what happened to the Marco who so indignantly looked at Jeb Bush and said, 'I guess someone must have convinced you that going negative against me helps you,' i guess that same person must now have convinced Marco that going negative against Chris Christie is what he needs to do.

4. Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun:

   China is extremely concerned at the United States' pushing of the militarisation of the South China Sea region, what they are doing can't help but make people wonder whether they want nothing better than chaos.

5. Sam Mitchell just:

   You commit so much effort to try and slow Steph Curry down and he still scores( 46) points, you sit there and wonder, if you don't do those things and you just try to play him conventionally, he might get 60.

Popularity rank by frequency of use