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Synonyms

staggering

American  
[stag-uh-ring] / ˈstæg ə rɪŋ /

adjective

  1. tending to stagger or overwhelm.

    a staggering amount of money required in the initial investment.
ˈstaggering British  
/ ˈstæɡərɪŋ /

adjective

  1. astounding or overwhelming; shocking

    a staggering increase in demand
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • staggeringly adverb
  • unstaggering adjective

Etymology

Origin of staggering

First recorded in 1555–65; stagger + -ing 2

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.

The asking price a couple of days earlier was a staggering $8,000.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

He's been on the road as a Scotland player for a staggering 22 years.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

Last year, consumers bought just $19 billion worth of them, out of a staggering $464 billion in total purchases of all kinds of annuities, the life-insurance industry group Limra has reported.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026

For one, the debt load incurred across these purchases is staggering, and the means of covering it are no longer assured.

From Slate • Mar. 20, 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.