startling
creating sudden alarm, surprise, or wonder; astonishing.
Origin of startling
1Other words from startling
- star·tling·ly, adverb
- un·star·tling, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use startling in a sentence
That’s a startling contrast to the consensus on Taylor Swift a few years ago, when she was widely considered to be a try-hard whose hard work was off-putting.
What’s startling, then, is that Jones has exceeded Tagovailoa’s production on those throws.
Alabama Is Winning With Its Offense, Thanks To Mac Jones | Josh Planos | December 2, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightThese are startling numbers and they demand an urgent response.
Facebook’s latest efforts to combat hate speech aren’t enough, ADL says | Danielle Abril | November 21, 2020 | FortuneThe intensity of the hostility over the past week was nonetheless startling.
‘We will not allow anyone to stop us’: Day and night, under historic scrutiny, the nation’s vote counters carried on | Amy Gardner, Reis Thebault, Hannah Knowles, Michelle Lee | November 9, 2020 | Washington PostA more recent FiveThirtyEight analysis pegged the bias at a startling 6 to 7 points.
He is a startlingly brilliant bassist, as accomplished in classical music as in jazz.
Edith Wharton, of course, writes in such a startlingly sharp and close-grained way about how people live.
And, while there are many startlingly violent scenes, they are juxtaposed with beauteous ones.
‘12 Years a Slave,’ Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender, Is Mesmerizing | Marlow Stern | August 31, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBarack Obama has completely distracted attention from the startlingly right-wing government that Bibi installed on Monday.
The second half of the film, in particular, is startlingly effective.
Included was a twenty-page aside on the offending Bishop, revealing a startlingly thorough knowledge of his writings.
A Letter from Mr. Cibber to Mr. Pope | Colley CibberThe thoughts which came to him were startlingly primitive, direct and sometimes meaningless to him.
The Man from Time | Frank Belknap LongStartlingly Mrs. Briggs laughed, shrilly, unpleasantly, as a woman laughs in great fear.
Scattergood Baines | Clarence Budington KellandThe glove is a great page; it is startlingly original, and as true as death and judgment.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) | Robert Louis StevensonThey looked startlingly large and prominent; and at times seemed literally to blaze with an inward fire.
A Charming Fellow, Volume II (of 3) | Frances Eleanor Trollope
British Dictionary definitions for startling
/ (ˈstɑːtlɪŋ) /
causing surprise or fear; striking; astonishing
Derived forms of startling
- startlingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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