staggering
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of staggering
Explanation
A staggering amount is an astonishing, astounding, stupefying amount. Anything staggering blows your mind. If you know that stagger means to stumble around uncertainly, then you're close to the meaning of staggering: this is a word for things that are so hard to believe you might fall down when you hear them. If the President gets shot, that's staggering news. If there's a major earthquake, that's staggering. Alien life contacting the Earth would be extremely staggering. Anything that knocks your socks off or makes your mind reel is staggering.
Vocabulary lists containing staggering
Tuck Everlasting
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Hatchet
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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.
By global forces that transformed the economy and created staggering levels of inequality that are made all the worse by the high cost of housing.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026
He has created 132 chances this season, the most in the Premier League and a staggering 58 chances more than the next-best, Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai.
From BBC • May 17, 2026
Energy prices jumped 3.8% on the month and a staggering 17.9% compared to a year ago.
From Barron's • May 12, 2026
The Toba supereruption, centered in what is now Indonesia, unleashed devastation on a staggering scale.
From Science Daily • May 11, 2026
The notes burst from her fingers, staggering at first, but then more confidently as the emotion in the music took over.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
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.
