–tacular suffix in the forming of nouns, ‘an exciting or extravagant event’ associated with the root; in the forming of adjectives, an intensifier of the root, ‘a lot, great, large, extravagant, excessive.’ Editorial Note: Terms created with –tacular tend to be jocular one-offs, though some, like spooktacular and craptacular, appear to have more endurance. Etymological Note: From a resegmenting of spectacular, in which the syllable tacular splinters off of spec and becomes a combining form. This true segmenting of the word would ordinarily be spectacul, from the Latin spectacul-um ‘a show, spectacle, something worth observing’ and the Latin suffix –ar ‘of a kind; belonging to.’ (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Astronauts returning from space say they experience what’s called the overview effect, a new understanding of the fragility of our planet and our need to reflect on what humans all share as a species. A book about the end of the universe...
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
Cf. the suffix <-tastic>, which often attaches to the same roots as <-tacular> for forming adjectives. (“Craptastic” and “craptacular” each return more than 50,000 Google-hits.)