staggering

[ stag-uh-ring ]

adjective

1. tending to stagger or overwhelm:

   a staggering amount of money required in the initial investment.

ˈstaggering

/ ˈstæɡərɪŋ /

adjective

1. astounding or overwhelming; shocking

   a staggering increase in demand

Derived Forms

• ˈstaggeringly, adverb

Other Words From

• stagger·ing·ly adverb
• un·stagger·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of staggering¹

First recorded in 1555–65; stagger + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Google taking this data away from us will have an absolutely staggering impact on accounts big and small.

From Search Engine Land

It is the earliest great stone monument known and a staggering 6,000 years older than Stonehenge.

From Nautilus

However, the course of action would put truly staggering numbers of people across all age groups at risk of serious illness and death.

From Popular-Science

I wish I had the secret to the staggering amount of scientific knowledge freshman med student Mia possesses, because it’s sufficient to challenge a professor who has an entire building dedicated to her research—gleaming neon logo included.

From Singularity Hub 

To up the revolution, he’s paying private equity firm Thoma Bravo a staggering $11 billion to purchase Ellie Mae, a small but sprinting provider of software that automates the origination process for banks and brokers.

From Fortune

A staggering 80 percent of college women do not report the crime to police, compared to 67 percent of non-students.

From The Daily Beast

As a treatise on the essential vacuity of the white liberal male, Boyhood is a staggering achievement.

From The Daily Beast

The total number of maps reported missing by the affected institutions, however, was a staggering 256.

From The Daily Beast

The Brazilian beauty pulled in a staggering $47 million in 2013 alone, equating to a cool $128,000 a day.

From The Daily Beast

The conservative reporter claims to have ‘debunked’ a report showing the staggering number of school shootings in America.

From The Daily Beast

When Black Hood put in his appearance, the young man started to move along up the alley, staggering as he walked.

From Project Gutenberg

And when the first faint streaks of morning light showed in the sky, all four children were almost staggering with sleep.

From Project Gutenberg

Frank was staggering, garrulous, laughing a great deal over very small jokes.

From Project Gutenberg

He had heard of famishing men staggering along astonishing distances half-asleep or too dazed to notice where they were going.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a staggering thought to imagine a stretch of water that ended on the sky-line—no land to be seen on the other side!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• amazing
• astonishing
• astounding
• mind-boggling
• shocking
• stunning