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Synonyms

breathtaking

American  
[breth-tey-king] / ˈbrɛθˌteɪ kɪŋ /

adjective

  1. thrillingly beautiful, remarkable, astonishing, exciting, or the like.

    a breathtaking performance.
breathtaking British  
/ ˈbrɛθˌteɪkɪŋ /

adjective

  1. causing awe or excitement

    a breathtaking view
"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

  • breathtakingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of breathtaking

First recorded in 1875–80; breath + take + -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.

A brief stint as an apprentice architect taught him to draw in the Beaux-Arts mode but he quickly moved beyond this, as we see from the breathtaking drawing that opens the show.

From The Wall Street Journal

"It can go from nothing to a huge arc or a curtain of light that stretches from horizon to horizon in a few seconds - it really can be quite spectacular and breathtaking."

From BBC

But these breathtaking frames don’t appear out of thin air.

From Salon

That emotion was evident in a different way on Friday, with a newly muscle-bound Vesia throwing darts in a breathtaking bullpen session.

From Los Angeles Times

The so-called debasement trade as well as a drive for hard assets in a period of rising inflation and its safe-haven allure have been the chief locomotives of the breathtaking rally in silver.

From MarketWatch

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.