fabulous

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfæbjʊləs/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

fabulous (comparative more fabulous, superlative most fabulous)

1. Of or relating to fable, myth or legend.
2. 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: […]

3. Fictional or not believable; made up.
4. (obsolete) Known for telling fables or falsehoods; unreliable.
5. (slang) Very good; outstanding, wonderful.
6. (slang) Camp, effeminate.
7. (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

• fab
• FAB, F.A.B.
• fabulicious
• fabulize
• fabulous invalid
• fabulously
• fabulousness
• fantabulous
• FOBulous
• ghetto fabulous
• nonfabulous
• semifabulous
• spectabulous
• superfabulous
• uber-fabulous
• ultrafabulous
• unfabulous

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) Macedonian: баснословен m (basnosloven) 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)