superb
/suːˈpəːb
/adjective
1Very good; excellent: a superb performance...
- Both the writing and the performances are superb.
- It's not a work you find programmed or recorded a lot, although it has attracted many superb pianists.
- I once gardened on a city terrace where my next door neighbour was a superb gardener by the name of Miss Jean Harvey.
Synonyms
excellent, superlative, first-rate, first-class, superior, supreme, outstanding, remarkable, dazzling, marvellous, magnificent, wonderful, splendid, admirable, noteworthy, impressive, fine, exquisite, exceptional, glorious, sublime, perfect, of the first order, of the first water
informal great, fantastic, fabulous, stellar, terrific, super, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, awesome, amazeballs, ace, cool, A1, tip-top
British informal brilliant, brill, smashing, bosting
US informal on fleek
North American informal badass
2Impressively splendid: the Bey of Tunis was building himself a superb mausoleum...
- Renvyle House Hotel has an idyllic setting, with its own stretch of beach, superb grounds including a croquet lawn, and rambling but beautifully maintained gardens.
- The game's graphics are stupendous, amazing, superb, and outstanding - choose your favorite.
- Visually this is all superb and the sight of the Statue of Liberty getting frozen is chilling.
Synonyms
magnificent, majestic, splendid, grand, impressive, imposing, awe-inspiring, breathtaking;
gorgeous, choice, resplendent, stately;
sumptuous, opulent, lavish, luxurious, deluxe
informal plush, ritzy
2.1Used in names of birds with attractive or colourful plumage, e.g. superb lyrebird.
Derivatives
superbness
- In addition to the superbness of its content, the quality of the book itself is also high.
- The seven serpentine lakes, enhanced mounding, and the superbness of the fast breaking greens will blow you away.
- Well, a few things may have been missed, but that sort of thing happens, and it doesn't diminish one bit the superbness of the work done.
Origin
Mid 16th century (in sense 2): from Latin superbus 'proud, magnificent'.
The first things described as superb were buildings and monuments. Later the word could describe a proud or haughty person, as in John Aubrey's 1697 assessment of William Oughtred, the English mathematician and inventor of the slide rule: ‘Before he died he burned a world of papers, and said that the world was not worthy of them; he was so superb.’ From the early 18th century people started using superb in the sense ‘very fine, excellent’. It comes from Latin superbus ‘proud, magnificent’.