Splendor is magnificent beauty or impressive grandeur that fills you with awe and wonder. When you stand in a palace with gleaming chandeliers, marble columns, and golden decorations everywhere you look, you're experiencing splendor. When you watch the sun set over the ocean in brilliant oranges and purples that seem to light up the entire sky, that's natural splendor.

The word suggests richness, brilliance, and a quality that takes your breath away. A simple birthday cake might look good, but a five-tier wedding cake covered in intricate sugar flowers and shimmering gold leaf has a certain splendor.

You might read about the splendor of ancient Rome, with its massive temples and public baths, or the splendor of a royal coronation ceremony. Nature offers its own splendor: the splendid colors of autumn leaves, the splendor of the Grand Canyon, or a night sky full of stars far from city lights.

The adjective form is splendid, which can also mean simply “excellent” or “wonderful,” as in “What a splendid idea!”