wonderment means wonder; astonishment. It carries an Arena rating of 1820, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, wonderment ranks #814 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,788 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,411 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #4,536 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
Why “wonderment” is a great word
A state of awed astonishment, or the object that inspires it, characterized by a reflective and sustained sense of marvel. Formed from the verb wonder, meaning to feel amazement or admiration, and the noun-forming suffix -ment, it was first recorded in use 1525–35. Unlike "wonder," which may denote a fleeting feeling or a marvelous object itself, or "astonishment," which suggests a sudden, breath-stopping shock, wonderment implies a quieter, more prolonged dwelling in awe. It is the fixed gaze of a child at a star-filled sky, the slow turning of a fossil in the palm, the silent pause before a frescoed ceiling—the mind not just struck, but willingly submerged in the beautiful and inexplicable, a moment held as if awe could be cupped like warmth in the palms.
Etymology
From wonder + -ment.
noun
- Wonder; astonishment.e.g.“"Blind!" exclaimed the old fellow, sitting up in startled wonderment. "You mean it, sir? You walk all right and you look at me as if you saw me. You're kidding surely."” — 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
- A puzzle or curiosity.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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