legendary

adjective

leg·​end·​ary ˈle-jən-ˌder-ē How to pronounce legendary (audio)
-ˌde-rē
1
: of, relating to, or characteristic of legend or a legend
legendary creatures of the sea
2
: well-known, famous
a legendary football player
legendarily adverb
Choose the Right Synonym for legendary

fictitious, fabulous, legendary, mythical, apocryphal mean having the nature of something imagined or invented.

fictitious implies fabrication and suggests artificiality or contrivance more than deliberate falsification or deception.

fictitious characters

fabulous stresses the marvelous or incredible character of something without necessarily implying impossibility or actual nonexistence.

a land of fabulous riches

legendary suggests the elaboration of invented details and distortion of historical facts produced by popular tradition.

the legendary exploits of Davy Crockett

mythical implies a purely fanciful explanation of facts or the creation of beings and events out of the imagination.

mythical creatures

apocryphal implies an unknown or dubious source or origin or may imply that the thing itself is dubious or inaccurate.

a book that repeats many apocryphal stories

Examples of legendary in a Sentence

legendary creatures from the sea He is the most legendary football player of his time.
Recent Examples on the Web But the legendary actress and singer’s star still shines on at this charming Bel Air home she had custom-built by master architect Wallace Neff in 1938—the same year the 16-year-old was cast as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 14 Mar. 2024 Back in 1998, Forti was excited about becoming the owner of the legendary Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, Spain. Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 12 Mar. 2024 Sonny Boy will also detail Pacino’s legendary career, from his days in avant-garde New York theater to his most famous roles and collaborations. Carly Tagen-Dye, Peoplemag, 11 Mar. 2024 The legendary director explained in interviews that an early version of the screenplay focused on federal agent Tom White, who led the investigation into the Osage murders. Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 11 Mar. 2024 During Nour’s first-ever Ramadan, my mother came to visit and spent many mornings playing Arabic songs for her, particularly one by the legendary Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez. Zaina Arafat, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, is legendary for its abundance of light, fluffy snow. Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 9 Mar. 2024 The first chapter offers a fairly standard introduction to the legendary folk singer’s early life and career, while the second presents a complex portrait of its subject at one of the most pivotal junctures of his artistic journey. Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 9 Mar. 2024 This is important for Escarpment’s owner and legendary Pinot Noir maker Larry McKenna. Per and Britt Karlsson, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'legendary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of legendary was in 1570

Dictionary Entries Near legendary

Cite this Entry

“Legendary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legendary. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

legendary

adjective
leg·​end·​ary ˈlej-ən-ˌder-ē How to pronounce legendary (audio)
1
: of or resembling a legend
2

More from Merriam-Webster on legendary

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