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

• mythic
• mythical

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 Prince of Darkness died in Birmingham, England, on July 22 at 76 years old, leaving behind a legacy as a legendary heavy metal rock performer who, after years of various headline-worthy antics and struggles with addiction, made his foray into reality TV. —Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 20 Oct. 2025

The legendary zoologist and conservationist, who dedicated her life to the study of chimpanzees, died at 91 from cardiac arrest, according to a death certificate obtained by TMZ. —Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Oct. 2025

During the dinner, held in the sprawling showroom and, inspired by autumn, decked out with long tables filled with small pine trees that will be replanted, backstage videos of the two legendary actors were projected on a screen. —Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2025

La MaMa produced the first version of what would become his legendary semi-autobiographical play, Torch Song Trilogy; it was later transferred to Broadway, winning him his first and second Tonys. —Zach Schiffman, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for legendary

• accessary
• adversary
• ancillary
• arbitrary
• aviary
• axillary
• beriberi
• breviary
• budgetary
• capillary
• catenary
• cautionary

Kids Definition

legendary

adjective

leg·​end·​ary ˈlej-ən-ˌder-ē 

1

: of or resembling a legend

2

: well-known, famous