mind-boggling
Americanadjective
-
intellectually overwhelming.
a mind-boggling puzzle.
-
emotionally or psychologically overwhelming; mind-blowing.
adjective
Usage
What does mind-boggling mean? Mind-boggling means utterly overwhelming to the mind or extremely difficult to understand or comprehend.The verb boggle means to overwhelm or bewilder, such as with complexity or abnormality.Things are often described as mind-boggling when they’re incredibly complex or exist on a scale that’s impossible to comprehend or “wrap your head around.”A similar term is mind-blowing. Mind-blowing is usually used to describe things that are impressive, whereas mind-boggling usually describes things that are confusing or hard to even think about. Still, the terms are often used interchangeably.The related verb phrase boggle the mind means to astound or be incomprehensible, as in His behavior really boggles the mind sometimes—I can’t begin to understand his motivation for doing the things he does. Example: The size and scale of the universe is mind-boggling—it’s impossible to grasp its magnitude.
Other Word Forms
- mind-bogglingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of mind-boggling
First recorded in 1960–65
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.
Less than 30 hours later, the dust settled on a mind-boggling stretch that confirmed a wholesale changing of the guard.
Ten months after the most mind-boggling trade in basketball history went down in the dead of night, only one thing is unsurprising.
A nearly eight-foot stack of 26 enlarged white ceramic plates, which derive from dinnerware the artist found in a shop, stands as a mind-boggling pillar.
From Los Angeles Times
Just as in Asamando, dashikis seem to be a go-to clothing here—but the variation of designs, lengths, and colors is mind-boggling.
From Literature
There is growing talk that the mind-boggling amounts of cash invested in artificial intelligence may take some time to be realised as profit.
From Barron's
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.
