The Adverb of Wonderful: Wonderfully
The adverb of wonderful is wonderfully.
How wonderfully is formed
The adjective ends in l, so adding -ly gives two: wonderful + ly = wonderfully.
The -ful group again: helpful → helpfully, beautiful → beautifully, peaceful → peacefully.
Wonderfully in a sentence
| The room was wonderfully quiet. | Intensifying something pleasant. |
| The design is wonderfully simple. | Praising the absence of complication. |
| The whole thing was wonderfully absurd. | Enjoying the excess – a common tone. |
Where it is actually used
Knowing the form is one thing; knowing the company a word keeps is what makes it sound natural. These are the patterns wonderfully appears in most often.
| wonderfully simple / clear / quiet | Praising a quality by intensifying it. |
| wonderfully preserved / restored | Buildings, manuscripts, old things. |
| wonderfully silly / absurd / over the top | Affectionate about excess. |
Wonderfully or something else?
Several adverbs sit close to wonderfully, and the difference is usually meaning rather than formality.
| marvellously | Very close, and slightly more old-fashioned. Spelled marvelously in American English. |
| delightfully | Emphasises the pleasure taken rather than the quality itself. |
| gloriously | Grander, and more often ironic. |
The mistake to watch for
| Incorrect | Correct |
| wonderfuly | wonderfully |
Both l letters are needed. Note also that the noun is wonder, with no -ful, which is where the doubt usually starts.
Related forms
Pronunciation: WUN-der-full-ee, four syllables.
| Adjective | wonderful |
| Adverb | wonderfully |
| Noun | wonder |
| Verb | wonder (to wonder about something) |
Practice
Fill the gap, then check yourself.
- The instructions were ___ clear.
- The house has been ___ preserved.
- The film was ___ silly from start to finish.
Answers: 1. wonderfully 2. wonderfully / beautifully 3. gloriously / wonderfully
Frequently asked
Why is there no -ful in wonder?
Because wonder is the noun and wonderful is the adjective built from it – literally “full of wonder”. The adjective adds the ending; the noun never had it.
