Phrase guide

small wonder

adv · noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adv

Meaning 1

No surprise; unsurprising that.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An event or fact whose cause or rationale is not difficult to discern; an unsurprising occurrence.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 難怪 /难怪 (nánguài) — unsurprising occurrence
  • Chinese Mandarin: 怪不得 (guàibude) — unsurprising occurrence
  • Dutch: geen wonder (dat ...) — unsurprising occurrence
  • Esperanto: ne mirinde — unsurprising occurrence
  • Finnish: ei mikään ihme — unsurprising occurrence
  • Finnish: ei varsinaisesti yllätys — unsurprising occurrence
  • French: pas étonnant (que ...) — unsurprising occurrence
  • German: kein Wunder — unsurprising occurrence
  • Italian: non c’è da meravigliarsi — unsurprising occurrence
  • Japanese: ...は少しも不思議ではない (... wa sukoshi mo fushigi de wa nai) — unsurprising occurrence
  • Manx: chan yrrys — unsurprising occurrence
  • Navajo: áyaańda — unsurprising occurrence
  • Navajo: áyąą — unsurprising occurrence
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ikke så rart — unsurprising occurrence
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: ikkje så rart — unsurprising occurrence
  • Polish: nic dziwnego — unsurprising occurrence
  • Polish: nie dziwota — unsurprising occurrence
  • Russian: неудиви́тельно — unsurprising occurrence
  • Russian: что ... (neudivítelʹno, što ...) — unsurprising occurrence
  • Russian: ничего́ удиви́тельного (ničevó udivítelʹnovo) — unsurprising occurrence
  • Spanish: no es de extrañar [que] — unsurprising occurrence
  • Spanish: no es sorpresa — unsurprising occurrence
  • Spanish: con razón — unsurprising occurrence
  • Spanish: de razón — unsurprising occurrence
  • Spanish: no sorprende — unsurprising occurrence
  • Yiddish: קיין וווּנדער נישט/ניט — unsurprising occurrence