penetrating
Americanadjective
Related Words
See acute.
Other Word Forms
- nonpenetrating adjective
- penetratingly adverb
- penetratingness noun
- unpenetrating adjective
- unpenetratingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of penetrating
First recorded in 1590–1600; penetrat(e) + -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.
There are many ways to portray authoritarianism, but “Two Prosecutors” is penetrating in its depiction of a society being slowly poisoned.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
He replaced Ismaila Sarr just after Bakambu's opener, and made the leveller from a penetrating run down the right.
From Barron's • Dec. 27, 2025
By analyzing the plume material, scientists can assess subsurface conditions without penetrating the crust.
From Science Daily • Nov. 10, 2025
The psychiatrist’s penetrating knowledge of Göring’s character is supposed to be critical to the prosecution, but though the movie keeps telling us this happened, it does not convince.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025
The apartment Jerry and his father occupied was three floors above street level and the voices calling Jerry’s name reached him faintly, barely penetrating the closed windows.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
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.
