Word.ws English Dictionary

wondering

Syllables: won·der·ing/ˈwʌndəɹɪŋ/

wondering is the present participle and gerund of wonder.

Meaning of wonder

Verb

wonder (third-person singular simple present wonders, present participle wondering, simple past and past participle wondered)

  1. (intransitive) To be affected with surprise or admiration; to be struck with astonishment; to be amazed; to marvel; often followed by at.
    • He's married by now, I shouldn't wonder.
  2. (intransitive, transitive) To ponder; to feel doubt and curiosity; to query in the mind.
    • He wondered whether penguins could fly. She had wondered this herself sometimes.
    Synonyms:
    ponder

See all 12 meanings of wonder

Noun

wondering (plural wonderings)

  1. The mental activity by which one wonders; a query, puzzlement, etc.

Adjective

wondering (comparative more wondering, superlative most wondering)

  1. Full of questioning and consideration.
    • Mary obeyed in wondering silence, which was increased when the French soubriette obviously taxed her abilities to the utmost; she had received full instructions from her mistress.1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 89

Forms of wondering

Noun
pluralwonderings
Adjective
comparativemore wondering
superlativemost wondering

Phrases with wondering

Questions about wondering

What does wondering mean?
Wondering means the mental activity by which one wonders; a query, puzzlement, etc.
What is wondering the present participle and gerund of?
Wondering is the present participle and gerund of wonder.
What part of speech is wondering?
Wondering can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce wondering?
Wondering is pronounced /ˈwʌndəɹɪŋ/.
What is the plural of wondering?
The plural of wondering is wonderings.

Words near wondering in the dictionary

  1. wonderglow
  2. wondergoal
  3. wondergoals
  4. wonderhood
  5. wonderin'
  6. wondering
  7. wonderingly
  8. wonderings
  9. wonderkid
  10. wonderkids
  11. wonderland

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wondering (page history and authors); wonder (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-wondering.ogg.

Cite this entry: “wondering.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wondering. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.