נפלא
niflá
The Hebrew word for wonderful is נפלא (niflá).
The word נפלא is an adjective used to describe something that is excellent or extremely impressive.
Meaning: excellent, extremely impressive (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
As an adjective, the word changes based on the gender and number of the noun it describes. The masculine singular form is נפלא, the feminine singular is נפלאה, the masculine plural is נפלאים and the feminine plural is נפלאות.
How do you pronounce it?
niflá
Did you know?
- While נפלא means 'wonderful' in modern Hebrew, it is often used in the Bible to describe the 'terrible' or 'awesome' power of God, blending beauty with a sense of overwhelming dread.
- In modern Israeli slang, people often prefer the word מדהים (amazing) over נפלא to express excitement, as נפלא can sound slightly more formal or poetic.
- The term נפלא appears in the Hebrew Bible to describe the 'wonderful' counselor in the prophecy of Isaiah, a phrase that became globally famous through Christmas carols.
Examples in context
- האין זה ערב נפלא?Isn't this a wonderful evening?This example shows how to use נפלא to describe an evening.Tatoeba #2561496 by VirtuOZ, translation #2924673 by AlanF_US
- זה דבר כל כך נפלא.That's such a wonderful thing.This example shows how to use נפלא to describe a thing.Tatoeba #1514353 by MrShoval, translation #1514276 by Spamster
- תום הוא צעיר נפלא.Tom is a wonderful young man.This example shows how to use נפלא to describe a young man.Tatoeba #5521031 by fekundulo, translation #5366239 by CK
- המופע היה נפלא!The show was wonderful!
- החופשה הייתה מדהימה!The vacation was wonderful!
- הערב היה נהדר!The evening was wonderful!
- הילד שלך הוא נהדר!Your child is wonderful!
- 54 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Rotem and Ido are talking about a dinner they just had.
- רוטם Rotemהיה פה אוכל נפלא, נכון?Haya po ochel nifla, nachon?The food here was wonderful, right?
- עידו Idoכן, זה היה באמת מדהים.Ken, ze haya be'emet madhim.Yes, it was truly amazing.
- רוטם Rotemאני שמחה שאהבת את המסעדה.Ani smicha she'ahavta et hamis'ada.I am glad you liked the restaurant.
- עידו Idoזה היה רעיון נפלא לבוא לכאן.Ze haya ra'ayon nifla lavo lekan.It was a wonderful idea to come here.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “wonderful” translations and entries נפלא, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
