fabulous

English

Etymology

From Late Middle English fabulous, fabulose, from Latin fābulōsus (“celebrated in fable”); Equivalent to fable +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfæbjʊləs/
Audio (AU) (file)

Adjective

fabulous (comparative more fabulous, superlative most fabulous)

Of or relating to fable, myth or legend.
Characteristic of fables; marvelous, extraordinary, incredible.
- 1949, Joseph Campbell, “The Hero and the God”, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces:
  [F]abulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: […]
Fictional or not believable; made up.
(obsolete) Known for telling fables or falsehoods; unreliable.
(slang) Very good; outstanding, wonderful.
(slang) Camp, effeminate.
(slang) Fashionable, glamorous.

Usage notes

In the sense of wonderful, the word is stereotypically associated with gay men. This may be a result of its former usage among valley girls.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:fabulous.

Synonyms

Thesaurus:excellent

Derived terms

Related terms

fable

Translations

mythical or legendary; incredible

Armenian: առասպելական (hy) (aṙaspelakan)
Bulgarian: легендарен (bg) (legendaren)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 传奇式的 (zh), 神话式的 (zh)
Finnish: tarunomainen
German: mythisch (de), unglaubhaft, nicht glaubwürdig
Greek:
Ancient Greek: μυθώδης (muthṓdēs)
Indonesian: menakjubkan (id)
Latvian: pasakains
Portuguese: fabuloso (pt)
Romanian: mitic (ro), legendar (ro), incredibil (ro)
Russian: невероя́тный (ru) (neverojátnyj), необычайный (ru) (neobyčajnyj)
Spanish: increíble (es), fabuloso (es)
Swedish: fabulös (sv), sagolik (sv), fantastisk (sv)

of the nature of a fable; unhistorical

Bulgarian: баснословен (bg) (basnosloven)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 寓言(似)的 (zh)
Finnish: tarumainen (fi)
French: fabuleux (fr)
German: sagenhaft (de), sagenumwoben (de), unhistorisch (de), märchenhaft (de)
Italian: favoloso (it)
Latvian: pasakains
Norman: fabuleux (Jersey)
Polish: bajeczny (pl)
Portuguese: fabuloso (pt), fantástico (pt), fabular (pt)
Romanian: fabulos (ro)
Russian: сказочный (ru) (skazočnyj), баснословный (ru) (basnoslovnyj)
Spanish: fantástico (es), fabuloso (es)
Swedish: sagolik (sv)

extraordinary, especially in being very large

Bulgarian: преувеличен (bg) (preuveličen)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 非凡 (zh) (fēifán), 了不起 (zh) (liǎobuqǐ)
Finnish: satumainen (fi) (of riches), mahtava (fi)
German: sagenhaft (de), außerordentlich (de), außergewöhnlich (de)
Kyrgyz: легендарлуу (ky) (legendarluu)
Romanian: extraordinar (ro), fabulos (ro)
Russian: преувеличенный (ru) (preuveličennyj)
Spanish: extraordinario (es), fabuloso (es)
Swedish: sagolik (sv), fantastisk (sv)

very good; wonderful

Bulgarian: чудесен (bg) (čudesen)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 极好 (zh) (jíhǎo)
Danish: fabelagtig, fantastisk
Finnish: satumainen (fi)
German: fabelhaft (de), märchenhaft (de), wunderbar (de)
Hebrew: נפלא (he) (niflá)
Italian: favoloso (it)
Kyrgyz: укмуштуу (ky) (ukmuştuu), сыйкырдуу (ky) (sıykırduu)
Latvian: pasakains
Norwegian: fabelaktig (no)
Polish: bajeczny (pl), bajkowy (pl)
Portuguese: fabuloso (pt)
Romanian: foarte bun, extrem de bun
Russian: потряса́ющий (ru) (potrjasájuščij)
Spanish: maravilloso (es), fabuloso (es)
Swedish: fantastisk (sv), underbar (sv), fabulös (sv)
Turkish: şahane (tr)
Yiddish: פֿאַנטאַסטיש (fantastish)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: ^{(please verify)} fabuleux (fr)
Norman: ^{(please verify)} fabuleux (Jersey)

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