dumbstruck
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of dumbstruck
Explanation
When you're dumbstruck, you're so amazed or shocked that you can't say a word. You might be dumbstruck with fear when you hear a scary noise upstairs in your supposedly empty house. You might be dumbstruck by the changes in a town you haven't seen in several years, or dumbstruck with terror on a roller coaster. The adjective dumbstruck describes someone who's rendered speechless by an overwhelming emotion — in other words, struck dumb, or "silent," which is the oldest meaning of the word, directly from the Old English.
Vocabulary lists containing dumbstruck
Words from "The Avengers"
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Lyrical vocabulary: Return to the '70s
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Elijah of Buxton
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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.
The world watched dumbstruck as the historic event was broadcast live, but Wall Street yawned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
A grieving son says he's "dumbstruck" after his dad's ashes were scattered by a crematorium without his permission.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
"Instead of being dumbstruck by the enormity of it, we can actually make progress toward an answer about why we're here in the universe."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026
“I’m dumbstruck because it’s not that he said anything against Charlie Kirk,” said protester McKensie Lara.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025
For several minutes I sat dumbstruck, staring at the wreckage of the tent’s once-graceful form amid the acrid scent of singed hair and melted nylon.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
