magnificent
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
extremely beautiful, grand, or impressive to look at.
possessing impressive beauty, grandeur, or scale in physical appearance.
Simple“The view from the top of the mountain was absolutely magnificent.”
In context“The cathedral's magnificent facade, adorned with intricate stone carvings, dominated the city's skyline for centuries.”
UsageOften modified by 'absolutely' or 'truly' for emphasis.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
extremely good or deserving of great praise.
exhibiting exceptional quality, skill, or merit within its category.
Simple“The pianist gave a magnificent performance that the audience loved.”
In context“The research team achieved a magnificent breakthrough, solving a mathematical problem that had remained unanswered for decades.”
Synonyms
“Bri Johnson’s elegant costumes include some magnificent millinery and a dash of tartan.”
“In this way, these two magnificent monuments could be reflected in a huge mirror of water, framed by manicured, green grass.”
From Middle English magnificent, from Middle French magnificent, from Latin magnificentior, comparative of magnificus (“great in deeds or sentiment, noble, splendid, etc.”), from magnus (“great”) + -ficēns, a form of -ficiēns, the regular form, in compounds, of faciēns, a participle of facere (“to do”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.