legendary

adjective

leg·​end·​ary ˈle-jən-ˌder-ē 

-ˌde-rē

1

: of, relating to, or characteristic of legend or a legend

legendary creatures of the sea

2

: well-known, famous

a legendary football player

legendarily

ˌle-jən-ˈder-ə-lē 

-ˈde-rə-

adverb

Synonyms of legendary

• mythical
• famed
• fabled

Choose the Right Synonym for legendary

fictitious, fabulous, legendary, mythical, apocryphal mean having the nature of something imagined or invented.

fictitious implies fabrication and suggests artificiality or contrivance more than deliberate falsification or deception.

fictitious characters

fabulous stresses the marvelous or incredible character of something without necessarily implying impossibility or actual nonexistence.

a land of fabulous riches

legendary suggests the elaboration of invented details and distortion of historical facts produced by popular tradition.

the legendary exploits of Davy Crockett

mythical implies a purely fanciful explanation of facts or the creation of beings and events out of the imagination.

mythical creatures

apocryphal implies an unknown or dubious source or origin or may imply that the thing itself is dubious or inaccurate.

a book that repeats many apocryphal stories

Examples of legendary in a Sentence

legendary creatures from the sea

He is the most legendary football player of his time.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Death of Robin Hood, starring Hugh Jackman as the legendary title character, is debuting on digital streaming this week after suffering a quick death at the box office. — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026

Pedersen was the deserving winner — at times, appearing to be a worthy successor to the legendary Peter Sagan. — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 26 July 2026

Premiering August 16 on HBO, Lanterns stars Chandler as Hal Jordan, a former test pilot and legendary member of the Green Lantern Corps who is approaching retirement. — Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 25 July 2026

Jimmie Vaughan & The Tilt-A-Whirl Band kicked the evening off in style, followed by the legendary Lucinda Williams who earned a standing ovation. — Raj Tawney, New York Daily News, 25 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for legendary

• accessary
• adversary
• ancillary
• apiary
• arbitrary
• aviary
• axillary
• bacillary
• beriberi
• bestiary
• breviary
• budgetary

Kids Definition

legendary

adjective

leg·​end·​ary ˈlej-ən-ˌder-ē 

1

: of or resembling a legend

2

: well-known, famous