stunned
Americanadjective
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deprived of consciousness or strength.
When the fish came close enough, they would get bopped on the head with a club or an axe by the fishermen, who would then drag the stunned fish into the boat.
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showing or reflecting astonishment, shock, or bewilderment.
A stunned spectator managed a "You're kidding?" but nothing more.
The curtain fell to a stunned silence, and then rapturous applause and hysterical laughter.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stunned
Explanation
When you're stunned, you're thrown for a loop: either by shocking news or a blow to the head. You can be stunned a few different ways, but they all involve a state of confusion. If your mom won the lottery, you'd be stunned. Others might be stunned if their favorite TV show was canceled. Some people are stunned by good news that is kind of amazing, like a NASA flight to Mars. On the other hand, getting whacked in the head can leave you stunned. Getting the wind knocked out of you will do the same.
Vocabulary lists containing stunned
"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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Ghost Boys
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Fish in a Tree
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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.
"We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy," said Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook in a statement.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Residents across the UK were left stunned as the sky was illuminated by the spectacular colours of the Northern Lights on Friday and Saturday evenings.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
On week one of the competition, Mahir landed star baker after he stunned TV judges Nigella Lawson and Paul Hollywood with his peanut and caramel chocolate stout cake.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
As stunned math experts began to absorb the results, even a researcher inside Anthropic called OpenAI’s release “obviously the most significant moment in mathematical history.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Even the birds were stunned into abnormal hush.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
