startling
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of startling
Explanation
Something that's startling is so unexpected that it shocks or surprises you. It would be startling to open your front door and see a clown standing there. Startling events or circumstances aren't necessarily frightening, though they can be. A surprise party, if it's planned right, is startling, and it can be startling the first time you meet your best friend's identical twin sister. Alarm clocks, smoke alarms, and barking dogs can all be equally startling. They startle you — and startle comes from start, with its Old English root styrtan, "to leap up."
Vocabulary lists containing startling
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Polling data on how people around the world view America inevitably makes for dry reading, but still exposes startling differences between how Americans see themselves and external perceptions.
From Salon • May 31, 2026
So it was startling to read stuff like this:
From The Wall Street Journal • May 30, 2026
It features a startling performance by Anthony Roth Costanzo that significantly elevates the American countertenor to the small ranks of one of the world’s most important singers.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026
Over 1,200 companies were taking part in the expo, according to organisers, plying their wares to the tens of thousands of attendees there for a startling variety of motives.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
He rests his hand on Helmuth's shoulder, startling him.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
