When you’re in Italy, there’s a lot you’ll probably want to describe as “amazing”. The food, the weather, the views…And showing your enthusiasm is a great way to connect with Italians.
In this post, you’ll learn the Italian word for “amazing”, as well as plenty of other words that Italians use too.
But Italians don’t always use “amazing” the way that we do, so here you’ll find out cultural tips about when to say “amazing” all’italiana (in the Italian way).
How Do You Say “Amazing” in Italian
The most simple way to say “amazing” in Italian sounds a lot like the English word “fantastic”, said with an Italian twist!
Fantastico. It’s pronounced fan-tas-TEE-koh .
To say this with your best Italian pronunciation, remember to keep the “oh” at the end short. It’s a short vowel, not a drawn out one.
Here’s how you might want to use it in Italy:
Questo risotto è fantastico. -This risotto is fantastic.
Il servizio qui è fantastico. -The service here is amazing.
Che tempo fantastico! -What amazing weather!
Vai in Italia quest’estate? Fantastico! -You’re going to Italy this summer? Amazing!
💡Good to know : It’s really common for Italians to say fantastico when they find something really funny, like a joke or a video. It’s like saying “that’s hilarious” or “that’s a good one” in English.
How to Say “That’s Amazing” in Italian
To say “that’s amazing” in Italian, you’d say: è fantastico. Pronunciation: EH fan-tas-TEE-koh . It literally means “it’s fantastic”.
For example:
Fai un corso di cucina italiana? È fantastico! -You’re doing an Italian cooking course? That’s fantastic!
How to Use Fantastico in Italian
We change fantastico depending on whether the word we’re describing is masculine, feminine or plural.
| Masculine singular | Fantastico | Fan-tas-TEE-koh |
| Feminine singular | Fantastica | Fan-tas-TEE-kah |
| Masculine plural | Fantastici | Fan-tas-TEE-chee |
| Feminine plural | Fantastiche | Fan-tas-TEE-keh |
For example:
Questo tiramisù è fantastico. -This tiramisu is amazing.
La focaccia a Genova è fantastica. -The focaccia in Genova is amazing.
I miei insegnanti di italiano sono fantastici. -My Italian teachers are amazing.
Le piazze a Roma sono fantastiche. -The squares in Rome are amazing.
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Katie definitely thinks that “questo tiramisù è fantastico!” (“this tiramisù is amazing!”)
Other Ways to Say Amazing in Italian
Here are some other ways to say “amazing” in Italian that you’ll hear Italians using.
| Bellissimo* | Very beautiful | Behl-LIS-see-moh |
| Eccellente | Excellent | Etch-chel-LEN-teh |
| Eccezionale | Exceptional | Etch-chets-yoh-NAH-leh |
| Fenomenale | Phenomenal | Feh-noh-meh-NAH-leh |
| Grande | Great / fantastic | GRAN-deh |
| Incredibile | Incredible | Een-kreh-DEE-bee-leh |
| Magnifico | Magnificent | Mah-NYEE-fee-koh |
| Meraviglioso | Marvelous | Meh-rah-vee-LYOH-zoh |
| Ottimo | Great / excellent | OHT-tee-moh |
| Pazzesco | Crazy / Insane (informal) | Paht-TSEH-skoh |
| Sorprendente | Impressive | Sore-pren-DEN-teh |
| Spettacolare | Spectacular | Speht-tah-KOH-lah-reh |
| Straordinario | Extraordinary | Strah-or-dee-NAH-ryoh |
| Stupendo | Wonderful / Stupendous | Stoo-PEN-doh |
*For more on how Italians use the bellissimo, you can read our blogpost 3 Italian words for beautiful that Italians actually use .
For example:
Il tuo italiano è sorprendente! -Your Italian is impressive!
Stasera mangiamo gli gnocchi al gorgonzola? Grande! -This evening we’re eating gnocchi with gorgonzola? Great!
C’è una vista spettacolare dalla terrazza. -There’s a spectacular view from the terrace.
Hanno un appartamento pazzesco in centro -They have an insane apartment in the center.
When to Say Amazing in Italian
Although using all of the above words for “amazing” in Italian would be correct, there are some cultural differences when it comes to how Italians use the word “amazing”.
In general, Italians don’t use “amazing” unless they think something is really, really special. For example, if you heard an Italian say questo tiramisù è fantastico (“this tiramisu is amazing”) it’s probably the best tiramisu they’ve ever had.
So you can definitely show your enthusiasm in Italy, but you might find that Italians are a bit more toned down when they show they’re enjoying something.
Something similar happens with the word “delicious” in Italian, which we talk about on our blogpost how do you say yummy in Italian?
How (and When) to Say Amazing in Italian: Review
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You can translate “amazing” in Italian with fantastico.
For example:
Questo risotto è fantastico . -This risotto is amazing.
Il servizio qui è fantastico . -The service here is amazing.
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To say “that’s amazing”, you can simply say:
È fantastico! -That (lit. it’s) amazing!
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You change the ending of fantastico depending on what you’re describing.
| Masculine singular | Fantastico |
| Feminine singular | Fantastica |
| Masculine plural | Fantastici |
| Feminine plural | Fantastiche |
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There are also lots of other natural ways to say “amazing” in Italian, like bellissimo, sorprendente, grande and spettacolare.
For example:
Il tuo italiano è sorprendente! -Your Italian is impressive!
C’è una vista spettacolare dalla terrazza. -There’s a spectacular view from the terrace.
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You can absolutely use Italian words for “amazing” to show your enthusiasm in Italy. Just keep in mind that the Italian way of doing things is to save stronger words for things that are particularly special.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: In this episode, you’ll learn the Italian word for “amazing” and how to use it in everyday Italian phrases.
K: You’ll hear when Italians would actually use this word. But before we get started, can we ask you a quick favore ? If you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you click the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow so we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!
M: So the Italian word for amazing is: fantastico (x2).
K: That’s right, there are few different ways to say “amazing” in Italian, but the most simple and common one sounds a lot like the English word “fantastic”, but with an “o” on the end. Just a little note on the pronunciation. The last “o” is a short vowel sound, so it’s not “oooo”, like in the English “ohhh nooo”. But “o”: fantastico.
Like in English, you can use fantastico as a word by itself.
M: For example, if someone told you they were planning a roadtrip around Italy, and you want to reply “amazing!”, you could say: fantastico!
K: If you wanted to say the phrase “that’s amazing”, the best way to say this in Italian is è fantastico.
M: È fantastico! Literally:
È - it is
Fantastico - amazing
For example, if someone told you they were planning on doing a cooking course in Italy, you could say è fantastico! That’s amazing. È fantastico!
K: You can also use fantastico to describe something.
M: For example, you could say questo risotto è fantastico. This risotto is amazing. Questo risotto è fantastico.
K: Risotto is a masculine word. We know because like most masculine words in Italian it ends with an -o. If we were describing a feminine word, we’d change the last letter on the end.
M: For feminine words, we’d say fantastica , with an -a on the end. For example, questa focaccia è fantastica. This focaccia is amazing. Questa focaccia è fantastica.
K: But although you could say the Italian word for “amazing” in these situations, Italians tend to be a bit more toned down and nonchalant when they show they’re enjoying something. This is a cultural difference I’m also still getting used to, so I occasionally end up saying something is fantastico where an Italian wouldn’t.
M: For example, for an Italian to say questo risotto è fantastico, this risotto is amazing, it would have to basically be one of the best risottos they’ve ever eaten. If they just think it’s tasty, they’d probably say something more like questo risotto è molto buono , or “this risotto is very good”.
K: But there is one more everyday situation where Italians would actually use the word “amazing”.
M: And that would be if we found something really funny. Like if someone told you a really funny joke, or you watched a really funny video. An Italian could say fantastico here.
K: It’s a bit like saying “that’s hilarious” or “that’s a good one” in English.
M: Now that you’ve heard the different ways you can use “amazing” in Italian, let’s see what you can remember.
K: How would you say “amazing” as a word by itself? Like if you were reacting to someone telling you that they have a roadtrip planned around Italy?
[...]
M: Fantastico! (x2) .
K: And what about the phrase “that’s amazing”? Like if you were reacting to someone telling you they’re doing an Italian cooking course.
[...]
M: È fantastico! Literally: it’s amazing. È fantastico.
K: And what about if you wanted to describe something, for example, if you wanted to say “this risotto is amazing”?
[...]
M: Questo risotto è fantastico (x2) .
K: And what would the feminine version be? For example, if you wanted to say “this focaccia is amazing?”
[...]
M: The feminine is fantastica. So we’d say questa focaccia è fantastica (x2).
K: Lastly, what could you say if you find something really funny in Italian? This is a very Italian way of using the word.
[...]
M: Fantastico! So again, with the -o on the end. Fantastico!
K: You’ve heard how to say “amazing” in Italian to describe masculine or feminine things, but what about plural things? Like if you wanted to say “amazing views” or “amazing monuments”?
M: You’ll find this information in clear, easy-to-read tables on our blogpost.
K: There, you’ll also find some of the other most common ways to say “amazing” in Italian, so you don’t have to keep repeating fantastico over and over. Just click the link in the description to head over to our website, or go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 217.
M: See you next time.
K: Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz: Amazing in Italian
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Amazing in Italian
Vocabulary
Fai un corso di cucina italiana? È fantastico! = You’re doing an Italian cooking course? That (lit. it is) amazing!
I miei insegnanti di italiano sono fantastici = My Italian teachers are amazing
Le piazze a Roma sono fantastiche = The squares in Rome are amazing
Il tuo italiano è sorprendente = Your Italian is impressive
Stasera mangiamo gli gnocchi al gorgonzola? Grande! = This evening we’re eating gnocchi with gorgonzola? Great!
C’è una vista spettacolare dalla terrazza = There’s a spectacular view from the terrace
Questo risotto è fantastico = This risotto is amazing
Questa focaccia è fantastica = This focaccia is amazing
Fantastico! = Amazing!
È fantastico = That’s (lit. it is) amazing
Flashchards: Amazing in Italian
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
