fabulous

fabulous
fabulous
originally meant ‘mythical, legendary’, but already in the 17c its meaning was extended to refer to anything astonishing or incredible, whether or not it belonged to fable or legend. The word enjoyed a revival in America and Britain in the 50s and 60s in the weakened sense ‘marvellous, wonderful’, and spawned a shortened form fab. Fab now sounds dated, but fabulous is still very much in use in this meaning:

• Miss Mitchell, looking, one must admit, fabulous, played down her frenzy —Cambridge Review, 1959

• She stretched her stockinged toes towards the blazing logs. ‘Daddy, this fire's simply fab.’ —Times, 1963

• Trueman puffed at a cigarette and said he looked fabulous —A. Ross, 1963

• That's a fab idea. I think I will —B. T. Bradford, 1983

• He thought she looked fabulous, just like a dream —R. Ingalis, 1987

• True love does not mean squirming while he or she has a fab time —Express, 2007.

The core usage of these words has always been with young people, and is likely to remain so despite the more recent appearance of newer and more colourful words —some of them, such as cool, revivals.

Modern English usage. 2014.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fabulous — Fab u*lous (f[a^]b [ u]*l[u^]s), a. [L. fabulosus; cf. F. fabuleux. See {Fable}.] 1. Feigned, as a story or fable; related in fable; devised; invented; not real; fictitious; as, a fabulous description; a fabulous hero. [1913 Webster] The fabulous …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Fabulous — Chanson par Ashley Tisdale et Lucas Grabeel extrait de l’album High School Musical 2 HSM 2.jpg Sortie 24 septembre 2007 (É. U.) Durée 3:21 Genre …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Fabulous — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda «Fabulous» Canción de Ashley Tisdale y Lucas Grabeel Álbum High School Musical 2 (álbum) Publicación 14 de agost …   Wikipedia Español

  • Fabulous — can refer to:* a typical gay word * See also: Taffy, Glamazon, Beautiful, and Feminine * Fabulous (song), a 2002 song by Jaheim * Fabulous (High School Musical 2 song), a song from the film High School Musical 2 *Fabolous (sic) , a rap artist *… …   Wikipedia

  • fabulous — early 15c., mythical, legendary, from L. fabulosus celebrated in fable; rich in myths, from fabula (see FABLE (Cf. fable)). Sense of incredible first recorded c.1600. Slang shortening fab first recorded 1957; popularized in reference to The… …   Etymology dictionary

  • fabulous — index exorbitant, remarkable, special Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • fabulous — *fictitious, mythical, legendary, apocryphal Analogous words: astonishing, amazing, astounding (see SURPRISE vb): extravagant, inordinate (see EXCESSIVE): *monstrous, prodigious, stupendous Contrasted words: credible, believable, colorable (see… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • fabulous — [adj] amazing, wonderful 10*, A 1*, aces*, A OK*, astonishing, astounding, awesome, best, breathtaking, cool*, doozie*, extravagant, fab*, fantastic, fictitious, first class, greatest, groovy*, immense, inconceivable, incredible, legendary,… …   New thesaurus

  • fabulous — ► ADJECTIVE 1) great; extraordinary. 2) informal wonderful. 3) mythical. DERIVATIVES fabulously adverb fabulousness noun. ORIGIN Latin fabulosus celebrated in fable , from fabula story …   English terms dictionary

  • fabulous — [fab′yo͞o ləs, fab′byələs] adj. [ME < L fabulosus, fabled < fabula] 1. of or like a fable; imaginary, fictitious, or legendary 2. hard to believe; incredible; astounding 3. Informal very good; wonderful SYN. FICTITIOUS fabulously adv.… …   English World dictionary

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