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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
Sheah Rarback, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2026
Another thing that’s amazing to me about Asawa, and that Chase’s book reveals, is her relationship to her family and her community.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2026
There is a lot of amazing music in this catalog that this part of the story doesn’t get to.
—David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 8 Apr. 2026
Going out there is an amazing experience.
—Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for amazing
Cite this Entry
“Amazing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amazing. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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