Meaning & use
legendary
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableapproving
Very famous and admired for a long time because of great deeds or abilities.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a legendary coach.
Patterns
- legendary for something
The legendary guitarist still sells out arenas.
The bakery is legendary for its cinnamon rolls.
Her patience with students was legendary.
adjectivenot comparable
Told about in old stories and possibly not real.
Grammar: Used before a noun: a legendary hero.
Patterns
- a legendary creature
The legendary king is said to sleep beneath the mountain.
Dragons are legendary beasts found in many cultures.
Explorers searched for the legendary lost city.
Word forms
| comparative | more legendary |
|---|---|
| superlative | most legendary |
Common combinations
- legendary status
- The band achieved legendary status.
- legendary figure
- He became a legendary figure in the sport.
- legendary creature
- The unicorn is a legendary creature.
- legendary for
- The chef is legendary for his sauces.
- truly legendary
- Their rivalry was truly legendary.
Synonyms and how they differ
- famous
- Famous is the plain word for being well known, whereas legendary adds long-lasting, almost mythical admiration.
- iconic
- Iconic suggests a symbol of its kind and is often applied to images or objects.
- mythical
- Mythical means belonging to myth and usually not real, whereas legendary can describe a real person.
- renowned
- Renowned is a formal word for being widely respected for skill, with less sense of grandeur.
Opposites
Word family
- legend noun
- a famous story or person
- legendarily adverb
- in a way that is legendary
- legendry noun
- legends collectively
- legendize verb
- to turn into a legend
Commonly confused: legendary or fabled? legendary or legible?
legendary vs fabled
Fabled means told of in fables and often suggests a story that may not be true.
legendary vs legible
Legible means easy to read, and it is unrelated to fame.
Practice
The marathon runner's training schedule was ____ among her teammates.
Choose one answer.
Legendary means widely and enduringly famous. Legible only describes writing that is easy to read.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “legendary”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.