- present participle of startle.
startling
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of startling
Explanation
Something that's startling is so unexpected that it shocks or surprises you. It would be startling to open your front door and see a clown standing there. Startling events or circumstances aren't necessarily frightening, though they can be. A surprise party, if it's planned right, is startling, and it can be startling the first time you meet your best friend's identical twin sister. Alarm clocks, smoke alarms, and barking dogs can all be equally startling. They startle you — and startle comes from start, with its Old English root styrtan, "to leap up."
Vocabulary lists containing startling
Amazing
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Marvelous
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Amazing
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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.
The superior returns of what Hartnett calls the “red, white and boom,” compared with Britain, is all the more startling considering that nearly all of that came in the past century and a half.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 3, 2026
But the attack also further revealed the startling US and Israeli intelligence penetration of Iran, a strategic weakness exposed in the 2025 war when Israel killed a succession of key figures in targeted strikes.
From Barron's • Jul. 1, 2026
At 250 years old, the United States is the oldest continuous modern democracy, which is startling when you realize that, by historical standards, we are still a pretty young country.
From Salon • Jun. 30, 2026
What it found was startling: its entire methodology for growing potatoes was wrong and needed to be revamped, the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026
When Maggie came in, Elisha jumped from behind the parlor door, startling her.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
