stunning
[stuhn-ing]
- causing, capable of causing, or liable to cause astonishment, bewilderment, or a loss of consciousness or strength: a stunning blow.
- of striking beauty or excellence: What a stunning dress you're wearing!
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Origin of stunning
Synonyms
See more synonyms for stunning on Thesaurus.com1. stupefying, numbing, dumbfounding, astounding.
stun
[stuhn]
- to deprive of consciousness or strength by or as if by a blow, fall, etc.: The blow to his jaw stunned him for a moment.
- to astonish; astound; amaze: Her wit stunned the audience.
- to shock; overwhelm: The world was stunned by the attempted assassination.
- to daze or bewilder by noise.
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- the act of stunning.
- the condition of being stunned.
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Origin of stun
1250–1300; Middle English stonen, stunen (v.) < Old French estoner to shake, make resound; see astonish
Synonyms
See more synonyms for stun on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for stunning
Contemporary Examples
Rather, Mahone is well aware of, and repeatedly stresses, the stunning rise to fame he has experienced.
The contrast with the Wilson grand jury is a stunning illustration of the racial double standards in criminal justice.
On each coast, the Caribbean and the Pacific, there are stunning beaches.
As the Financial Times noted in September, the deal “represents a stunning change in strategy.”
And he, like the other men in the quartet of so-called “sure things,” delivers a stunning, awards-worthy performance in his film.
Historical Examples
In the hour of triumph the government was doomed to receive a stunning blow.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
She and I have picked out a stunning design for the wedding dress.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
There is no stunning confutation of his nonsense before men and angels.
Essays, First SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
He made the statement as if he expected it to come as a stunning surprise.
The PortygeeJoseph Crosby Lincoln
The stunning sense of deep affliction is a mercy from on high.
Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume I (of II)Charles James Lever
stunning
- informal very attractive, impressive, astonishing, etc
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stun
- to render unconscious, as by a heavy blow or fall
- to shock or overwhelm
- to surprise or astound
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- the state or effect of being stunned
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Word Origin
C13 stunen, from Old French estoner to daze, stupefy, from Vulgar Latin extonāre (unattested), from Latin ex- 1 + tonāre to thunder
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
Word Origin and History for stunning
stun
v.
c.1300, "to daze or render unconscious" (from a blow, powerful emotion, etc.), probably a shortening of Old French estoner "to stun" (see astonish). Stunning popularized for "splendid, excellent" c.1849.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper