Standard Lemma guide

thunderous

adj · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈθʌn.də.ɹəs/
  • Canada, US: /ˈθʌn.dɚ.əs/
  • Australian: /ˈθan.də.ɹəs/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: TH AH1 N D ER0 AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Very loud; that sounds like thunder; thundersome. Also in metaphorical expressions, signifying fury.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

extremely ominous

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • world events of thunderous import

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

loud enough to cause (temporary) hearing loss

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deafening, earsplitting, thundery

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English thunder Proto-Indo-European *h3ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h3édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsus Old French -usbor. Middle English -ous English -ous English thunderous From thunder + -ous.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: гърмящ (gǎrmjašt) — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Bulgarian: оглушителен (oglušitelen) — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Bulgarian: буреносен (burenosen) — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Esperanto: tondra — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Finnish: jyrisevä — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • French: tonitruant — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • German: donnernd — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Italian: tonitruante — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Italian: tonante — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Korean: 우레 같은 (ure gateun) — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Latin: tonitrālis — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Macedonian: громогласен (gromoglasen) — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Russian: громовой (gromovoj) — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Russian: оглушительный (oglušitelʹnyj) — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Russian: грозовой (grozovoj) — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Russian: предвещающий грозу (predveščajuščij grozu) — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Spanish: atronador — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Spanish: tonante — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Spanish: tronitoso — very loud; suggestive of thunder
  • Spanish: estruendoso — very loud; suggestive of thunder