astounding
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of astounding
Explanation
Astounding is an adjective that describes something bewildering, like the astounding sight of a dog walking on two legs. When something is astounding, you might find yourself unable to speak — after all, astounding comes from the Middle English word astouned, meaning "to stun." If you see something that's astounding, you might just stare and stare, speechless. Astounding also describes something so surprisingly impressive that it overwhelms, like the astounding news that you just won the lottery.
Vocabulary lists containing astounding
30 GRE Words Beginning with "A"
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Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)
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Wolf Hollow
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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.
For Becerra, the strong poll results indicate an astounding turnaround for a campaign that appeared all but dead just weeks ago.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
He played on most days, for an astounding six sets over three hours, with little regard to the weather.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
The astounding discovery that could link Eastern and Western medicine.
From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026
"You had an astounding mortality rate of about 30 percent per voyage," Quezon said.
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
If one filters out banal and impersonal events, most of what’s left are astounding aberrations and coincidences, and one’s mind begins to resemble the headlines of supermarket tabloids.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
