stunning
Americanadjective
-
causing, capable of causing, or liable to cause astonishment, bewilderment, or a loss of consciousness or strength.
a stunning blow.
- Synonyms:
- astounding, numbing
-
of striking beauty or excellence.
What a stunning dress you're wearing!
adjective
Usage
What does stunning mean? Stunning essentially means something or someone causes such a huge impact that you are stunned from pain or a wave of emotion.Stunning can describe something or someone that literally causes physical pain, as in The kickboxer suffered a stunning blow to her face. Stunning is also used figuratively to describe something or someone that overwhelms you emotionally or has the potential to overwhelm you emotionally, as in The acrobats performed a stunning routine of flips and cartwheels. Finally, stunning can also describe something or someone that is especially beautiful or marvelous, as in The actress wore a stunning dress to the red carpet. You might also use dazzling or gorgeous.Example: In a stunning act of arrogance, the dictator built a solid gold statue of himself and placed it in the city square.
Other Word Forms
- stunningly adverb
Etymology
Origin of stunning
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 winger represented Japan at the 2022 World Cup, coming on as a substitute in all four of their matches and scoring the winning goal in the stunning victory over Spain.
From BBC
The University of Connecticut’s stunning last-second upset over Duke in the March Madness college basketball tournament is the kind of moment that fans wait all season for.
From Barron's
And they’d make stunning companions to the purple fungi that spread like a lumpy blanket over the fallen log up there.
From Literature
In which we explore whether or not UConn’s stunning victory was a cosmic comeuppance.
Japanese locals and tourists packed the country's most stunning cherry blossom spots on Monday to enjoy the dazzling flowers at full bloom.
From Barron's
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.
