- present participle of stun.
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
Etymology
Origin of stunning
Explanation
Someone who is strikingly beautiful can be described as stunning. There's something magical about weddings that makes every bride look stunning. The adjective stunning also means causing astonishment, shock, or disbelief. If your basketball team suffers a stunning defeat, it comes at the hands of a rival team you were positive you would beat. Stunning is rooted in the Old French verb estoner, meaning to stun or shock, and it was used in the 1800s as a synonym for excellent. It's still used this way, particularly when something is really impressive, like the school mime troupe's stunning performance.
Vocabulary lists containing stunning
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Call of Beauty: Synonyms for "Beautiful"
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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.
He added that Anglesey fitted the brief: "It can be absolutely stunning but has a foreboding quality."
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
But it evolves, over the course of nearly three hours, into a stunning portrait of Evans, the 34-year-old father of Holmes’s two children, who has been managing her public image while she is behind bars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
“I thought Matt Reeves’ work on ‘The Batman’ was stunning; it was intentional, specific, and rigorously coherent,” he said in his statement, first reported by Deadline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
"It's stunning," lead author Daniel Collins told AFP about the outcome of the experiments, recalling the "eureka moment" when he first saw positive results and rushed to his PhD supervisor's office to share the news.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
It wasn’t for lack of trying or want; above him the sky was stunning; a smattering of silver-white stars more vivid than he’d ever seen in Lkossa.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
