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Can amazing mean "good"?
Yes, it can.
One common complaint regarding the adjectival use of amazing is the extent to which the word is used in what some feel is a watered-down fashion. Those who take this position argue that unless someone is literally being amazed, the word is ill-chosen.
While this defense of semantic integrity is understandable, we must point out that the broadened meaning of amazing is hardly an isolated case. In fact, a number of words that are semantically similar to amazing have also come unmoored from their original meanings. Fabulous once meant “characteristic of fables," and the earliest known sense of terrific was “exciting fear or awe.” Although the weakened meanings of such words have elicited complaints, most of them have eventually become accepted into the language over the course of time.
Examples of amazing in a Sentence
Okla Jones, Essence, 19 Sep. 2025
She's done such an amazing job of becoming a mother and going through a whole year of pregnancy and our first year with Dominic.
—Lydia Mee, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
At the end of the day, volunteering for the World Cup is an amazing opportunity to see how one of sport’s most powerful governing bodies operates from the inside.
—Meredith Heil Bock, AFAR Media, 18 Sep. 2025
Thank you for your understanding, and thank you so much for all of those who serve this amazing country.
—Rosanna Fraire, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for amazing
Cite this Entry
“Amazing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amazing. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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