dazzle
Americanverb (used with object)
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dazzles,
present (3rd person singular)
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dazzled,
past participle, past
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dazzling
present participle
verb (used without object)
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dazzles,
present (3rd person singular)
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dazzled,
past participle, past
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dazzling
present participle
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to shine or reflect brilliantly.
gems dazzling in the sunlight.
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to be overpowered by light.
Her eyes dazzled in the glare.
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to excite admiration by brilliance.
Once one is accustomed to such splendor, it no longer dazzles.
noun
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dazzles
plural
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an act or instance of dazzling.
the dazzle of the spotlights.
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something that dazzles.
verb
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(usually tr) to blind or be blinded partially and temporarily by sudden excessive light
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to amaze, as with brilliance
she was dazzled by his wit
she dazzles in this film
noun
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bright light that dazzles
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bewilderment caused by glamour, brilliance, etc
the dazzle of fame
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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dazzlernoun
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overdazzleverb
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outdazzleverb (used with object)
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undazzledadjective
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undazzlingadjective
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dazzlinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dazzlesimple
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dazzlessimple
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have dazzledperfect
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has dazzledperfect
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am dazzlingprogressive
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are dazzlingprogressive
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is dazzlingprogressive
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have been dazzlingperfect progressive
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has been dazzlingperfect progressive
Past
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dazzledsimple
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had dazzledperfect
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was dazzlingprogressive
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were dazzlingprogressive
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had been dazzlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dazzle
Explanation
To dazzle is to blind someone for a moment with light, like a deer in the headlights. You can also dazzle by impressing people, and not just by wearing a sparkly sequined shirt. Have you ever had a light shine in your face so you couldn't see for a second? You were dazzled. To dazzle is to blind someone in this way. A car's high-beam lights can dazzle other drivers. Looking directly at the sun is a way to dazzle yourself. Dazzling puts you in a daze for a second. Also, anything impressive can dazzle. A great writer dazzles readers. An impressive speaker dazzles listeners. It's like you're blinded by their brilliance.
Vocabulary lists containing dazzle
Selection Vocabulary 2, Unit 2
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Unit 5, Academic Vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
Getting investors to look past the dazzle of artificial intelligence and data centers toward ordinary roads, bridges and cell towers is a fairly tall order these days.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Fireworks may dazzle crowds with brilliant colors and loud explosions, but new research suggests their effects continue long after the show ends.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 4, 2026
Young people deserve better than "warmed-over revivals missing all of the pep, colour and dazzle of their predecessors", he concluded.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
That’s how you open their hearts and lower their walls: You dazzle them.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
Sometimes, in the slow heat of summer, long before dawn, Volkheimer paces in the harsh dazzle of the billboard lights and feels his loneliness on him like a disease.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The handsome, personable Mr. Galante dazzles at the piano.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
At the age of 13, she dazzles audiences across India with her piano and sitar performances.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025
The menu dazzles with sushi, A5 wagyu, and creative mains.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2025
Ms Edwards said: "It's really amazing. I was hoping that we had a chance – certainly I've been gearing Poykee up and making sure that he dazzles the judges and his personality shines through."
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025
Each is foreshadowed by an earlier century, but dazzles into full prominence in the twentieth.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
I noticed the slight negativity but was mostly dazzled that a man texted immediately after the date to say he liked me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
In 2010, Spain dazzled the football world with their tiki-taka on their way to World Cup glory in South Africa.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Nope, says a crack team of Nomura analysts who dazzled some on social media with a 119-page deep dive into the sector that was published Tuesday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Playing in a sterile stadium built to house the soul-crushing losses of the NFL Jets and Giants, the 27-year-old Parisian dazzled more than 80,000 with a pair of second-half goals against Senegal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
He switched it on, dazzled by the brilliance.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
A couple tied the knot in a thrifty-themed wedding with the bride dazzling in a £2 charity shop wedding dress.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
For many critics, it served as the tantalizing appetizer before the release of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in 1967, a dazzling entrée if ever there were one.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
A solar eclipse, one of the year's most popular meteor showers, a dazzling evening appearance by Venus, and a lunar eclipse will fill August with memorable celestial events.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
He achieved this by observing the effect of a light-bending phenomenon called gravitational lensing on the stars that became visible while the Sun's dazzling light was obscured.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
She laughed and rolled her eyes, and he wished he could make her see it—the way he saw her, the dazzling beauty that was her glittering soul.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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.
