staggering
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of staggering
Explanation
A staggering amount is an astonishing, astounding, stupefying amount. Anything staggering blows your mind. If you know that stagger means to stumble around uncertainly, then you're close to the meaning of staggering: this is a word for things that are so hard to believe you might fall down when you hear them. If the President gets shot, that's staggering news. If there's a major earthquake, that's staggering. Alien life contacting the Earth would be extremely staggering. Anything that knocks your socks off or makes your mind reel is staggering.
Vocabulary lists containing staggering
Tuck Everlasting
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Hatchet
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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.
“Sentiment has troughed,” said Morgan Stanley equity analyst Brian Nowak, citing lower visibility and confidence in its ability to turn AI investments into shareholder returns and its staggering rate of capital spending.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
It’s staggering to me that we have hundreds of pages of judicial fact-finding and unimpeachable testimony gathered by the district court.
From Slate • Jun. 3, 2026
The previous World Cup, which occurs every four years, was estimated to be the most expensive in history, at a staggering $220 billion, because everything needed to be newly built for the event.
From Salon • Jun. 3, 2026
Before he left for OpenAI, Sutskever turned down a $6 million-a-year offer to stay at Google, which he considered “a staggering amount of money.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
We marched for hours upon hours each day, stumbling and staggering along as best we could.
From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz
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.
